Year 6, The Return of Voldemort
by starryangel623
Summary: Harry Potter faces Voldemort in his return during the 6th year


Harry sat straight up in bed, terrified by what he had just seen. He knew he would never forget this dream unlike the others he had had in the past. He looked back at what he just dreamt about. Harry finally believed that now the dreams he had, usually happened. Harry was scared, but not for himself, but for the others, all the innocent people that were killed by no other than Lord Voldemort. Before Harry looked back at the dream, he was remembering what happened at the end of the school year, how he had defeated the Dark Lord once and for all. Harry had not believed that Voldemort was killed; he was just weakened by the curse of death. Harry figured that he must have re-gained power, but so quickly he did not know.  
  
From what Harry looked back on, he remembered that there was a school in America which was for witches and wizards. The students were attending their classes as usual when there was a loud bang, like the school had been hit by something which they did not know of. It turns out that part of the school caved in automatically killing teachers and students. Everyone rushed out of their classes to see what the commotion was. What they saw frightened them half to death. They saw the Dark Lord walking through the smoke with hundreds of death eaters at his side. The teachers tried their best to hold them off, and it had worked for a short amount of time. They produced some kind of shield which held them back for nearly ten minutes. This gave the students enough time to get to the hall where they had their meals everyday. They would have been safe, but the shield that was produced, was broken down. Obviously these teachers were killed, killed for trying to fight against Voldemort, killed for trying to save innocent lives.  
  
Harry remembered that there was a small huddle of students. This group consisted of 7 students, three of them were guys and the rest were girls. They were all 16 years old and were able to do quite advance magic. These 7 could always be found together in the library or even by the fireside producing a variety of spells. Though these children were highly intelligent, they were also known to pull pranks on people. No doubt about it that they were the most popular students in the school. It was almost obvious that Voldemort was actually there for them.  
  
These 7 friends were all in the same house at their school. Their names were Kenneth (but everybody called him Kenny), Eric, Josh, Jennifer, Heather, Melissa, and Allison. Kenny had blonde hair which the front was always gelled up. He had blue eyes and the most spectacular smile that made all the girls crazy, he also was somewhat tan. He was very athletic; he was beater on his Quidditch house team which was called the Eagles. This had nothing to do with the name of the house; the Eagle was just their mascot. Since he grew up around muggles, he also played football and ice hockey. Eric was a pale dirty blonde hair guy. He had deep green eyes which you can almost always tell what was on his mind. He was athletic, but not as much as Kenny. Eric was also on the Quidditch team, the Eagles. He played Keeper and he was excellent at it, which was probably the reason they were one of the best teams out of the four other houses. Then there is Josh, he was smaller than the rest, but he made up for this with his extreme amount of speed. He had dark brown hair and deep brown eyes. He had a little bit of tan, just enough that he didn't look a ghostly white. All the girls were very pretty, almost all the guys in the school had tried to go out with them, but the girls simply refused. Jennifer or Jen or Jennerz for short, had medium length light brown hair. She had light brown eyes, which matched her hair perfectly. Jen had fair skin which did not tan very easily. She was on the Eagles her second year in the school, but after that she stopped trying for the team and no one knew why. Heather had shoulder length blonde hair and light blue eyes. She was probably the sportiest of them all, being chaser on the Eagles. Melissa was the girly- girl of them all; she wasn't a wimp like most people thought she was, she was actually quite brave. She just wasn't into the whole sports scene like everybody else. Some people would say that she looked a lot like Heather; she had the same length and color hair and the same blue eyes. The difference between them is the Melissa is taller and skinnier. Allison was the sportiest girl next to Heather. She had red hair and blue eyes with a tinge of green in them. Like Heather, she was also chaser on the Eagles. This group of seven was the most liked but yet the most hated group in school. Almost everyone in the school liked them except the second most popular group in the school. They only hated them because they all once used to be friends with one another until they came to find they had not to much in common and constantly got on each others nerves.  
  
Even though Harry knew he would never forget this dream, he was trying to remember what happened next. He remembered that the whole school was trying to get out and run for safety, but the group of 7 did not go. It seemed like they wanted to stay and see if they could help. Some people noticed that they were not going outside and went to see where they were going. They had gone to the other end of the school where Voldemort was. When they turned the corner, Heather saw all of the people that lost their lives to save them. She noticed that there were still some death eaters present, when they saw her, the one closest to her cried "Crucio!" Heather was screaming in pain. When her friends caught up to her they immediately ran to her trying to make her forget the pain. They were unaware that the death eaters were looking at them about to perform a spell on them. They decided to curse the nearest one to them "Crucio!!!!" The death eater yelled and Allison hit the floor and her eyes were watering as she was forgetting the pain. She didn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing her in pain, that's all the death eaters wanted anyway. Allison got up and hit the same death eaters that had cursed her and Heather. She was yelling "Crucio!" She was aware that this was working on them and so they all left to get out of the school. Nobody, after all these years, realized that Allison was the most powerful of them all, not even Allison had known.  
  
Harry was still going over the dream in his head when he heard something on his window. He looked over and saw that there were a few owls waiting for him to come and open the window. They seemed quite irritated since it was raining heavily outside. Harry opened the window and they all came through the window trying to deliver their letters and packages first. He went to his bed, where the pile of letters and packages were dropped and he picked one up. He hadn't recognized the writing, but he thought it looked familiar. It read:  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
Hello it's me Tim! How is your summer going? I don't think it may be going so well because of the way your relatives looked when they had to pick you up! Well even though we may not be the greatest of friends like you are with Ron and Hermione, I decided you could probably use some cheering up so I got you a gift. I know it's not much, but I hope you like it! See you on the train or maybe sometime in Diagon Alley!  
  
Tim  
  
  
  
Harry picked up the package and opened it with the curiosity building up inside of him. He wondered what Tim could possibly get him. When he finally opened it, he knew that it would come in handy, especially if Voldemort tried anything this year. He received a book; Harry read the title out loud "1001 Ways to Know When People Are in a Disguise" When Harry read the back it said:  
  
This is a book to prepare and protect yourself when people are in a disguise. It is usually dangerous, that is why it is wise to know when people are in a disguise. Whether it is by polyjuice potion or Kalam. People have been known to die because they are not aware when even their best friends are not really their best friends, but someone else. Use this book to protect you and guide you, but do not let it go to your head because then you will always be seeing people as someone else.  
  
Harry realized that this gift would come in handy, especially if the events of last year ever repeated themselves. When Harry put the book to the side, he realized that there was another one below it. It was called "Your Dreams and how to Protect Yourself in Them" Harry didn't even have to read that back of this, he automatically knew what this was about. He was grateful that Tim was trying to help him, help him fight against Voldemort and his followers. Harry regretted ever thinking that Tim was on the dark side, he knew that Tim would have if not already forgiven him.  
  
Harry picked up the next letter and recognized Hermione's neat writing.  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
How is your summer going? Mine is going good though I am still trying to get over the memories from last school year. If you want, would you like me to tell you what happened? I think that the best way of discussing something is the best way to recover, and that is what I need right now. I talked to Ron and he says that I will be staying at his house over the rest of our holiday. I am not to sure if you will be joining us, but if you would like to come then I think it would be okay. Well I hope you enjoy your gift!! It isn't as much as I would have liked to get, but don't worry it isn't a book. Ron talked me out of getting you one because that was my first choice of something to give you.  
  
  
  
Hermione  
  
He picked up the somewhat lumpy parcel and opened it eagerly wanting to see what was inside. The first think he saw was "Quidditch through the Ages 2" Hermione must have known that Harry wouldn't have considered this a book, but something for him to enjoy and possibly give him knew ideas to teach his team. Harry went to go get the next letter but then he noticed more parcels below Hermione's gift. Thinking what else she could possibly get him, he picked it up and opened it. When he finally tore off that last bit of paper, he was breathless, if there was anyone in the room, he wouldn't have been able to speak. He picked up the gift; there were three separate picture frames. The first one had a picture of Hermion, Ron, and himself. The second one, was of Harry and his godfather Sirius, Harry noticed that Sirius looked much healthier and happier then when he saw for the first time in his third year. Before he picked up the last frame, he figured that it would have been another one of him and his friends, but he realized he was wrong. It was a picture of Lily and James; they were hand in hand and smiling up at Harry. He recognized the familiar feeling coming over him; he felt his eyes welling up with tears. He let them stream down his face not knowing the real reason why he felt like this. Was it because he was sad that he had never met his parents? Was it from anger that Wormtail betrayed his parents? Or were they even tears of happiness because of Hermione he has another picture to add to his collection?  
  
Harry put these pictures on his bedside table and stared at them for a few moments, and then he went to his next letter. He noticed immediately that it was from Sirius. He opened it quickly and read:  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
As you know from last year that my name had been cleared. Well it turns out that you will be able to live with me! I talked to Dumbledore about it and he agrees that this would be the best thing and that the Dursley's probably aren't as safe as they used to be. I bought a house and furnished it during the beginning of the summer. I will be coming to get you on August 2 at 3:30 in the afternoon so make sure you are ready! I will be using a car from the ministry; they are surprisingly being courteous enough to let me use one!! Well your gift was too large to send so you are just going to have to wait to see what it is when you arrive!  
  
Sirius  
  
Harry was ecstatic; he was finally going to leave the Dursley's once and for all! He opened the rest of his letters and gifts in extreme happiness. The next thing he opened was just the usual supply list and his ticket for Hogwarts. His last letter was from Ron, it was short but it read:  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
You are probably getting tired of me finding everything out before you do, but I hear that you are going to be staying with Sirius this summer!!!! I overheard my mum and dad talking bout it, so I decided that I should just listen in. Well I couldn't send you my gift, so you will just have to wait for another time when you can get it.  
  
Ron  
  
Harry was so happy he couldn't even sleep so he decided to look at some of the books he had received. After a period of time, he grew to be quite tired. He put his gifts under the loose floorboard and climbed into bed. This was the first time he was happy for a long time. The dream was long forgotten, even though he would be able to describe every detail if the time came. He slowly drifted off into a dreamless sleep.  
  
The next morning Harry woke up and got dressed. He went downstairs and entered the kitchen and once again nobody knew he was there, until his uncle said irritated "Boy! Where have you been? We have been waiting for our breakfast all morning!" Harry realized that he was in trouble so he got a frying and started to make eggs and bacon. All was done in 15 minutes. Before he sat down to enjoy his breakfast, he had to clean up the mess he had made. It wasn't large mess, just the usual dirty dishes, but to his aunt, it would have been a mess. Just as Harry was going to sit down, he noticed a black dog in the backyard. Harry told him that he would be right there, and he went to his seat and ate hurriedly wanting to know why his godfather was here. He was heading outside, but he thought it would be best if he asked, so he turned to his uncle Vernon and asked hopefully "Can I go for a walk?" Vernon seemed to consider this, if he went people would see him, but if he stayed he would just be in the way. After Vernon thought about this, he grunted his approval and Harry made his way outside. When he reached his godfather, he was no longer in a dog form, but he was in his human form. They decided to leave the yard and go for a walk, not wanting to be seen from anyone in the Dursley's household.  
  
When they reached the walkway, Harry busted out with questions, "Is there anything wrong?"  
  
Sirius just looked at him and realized that his sudden appearance may have worried him so he said with a solemn face "No Harry, nothing is wrong." Harry noticed that Sirius was trying to force a smile but it hadn't quite worked. "Sirius? What's wrong? What happened?" Sirius looked at him, he knew he couldn't lie to his godson; he had to tell him the truth. "Well I just came to make sure that you were okay, that you weren't being caused any trouble." Harry didn't know what he should think of this "What kind of trouble?" Sirius knew where this was headed so he decided that he should just tell him before he heard from anyone else. "Harry yesterday an American school…." He didn't get the chance to finish because he was interrupted by Harry "It was attacked by Voldemort wasn't it? I had a dream last night, and it was about an American school and a lot were killed." Sirius should have been shocked but he wasn't, he actually looked kind of worried, but before Harry got the chance to say anything, Sirius took the advantage and said "Yes Harry it was Voldemort. I have a theory, it may not be true but it's just a theory, on why you were able to see that in your dreams." Harry was a little confused, he wanted to know what his theory was but he figured it must have been bad since Sirius hadn't said anything yet. "Well? What's you theory then?"  
  
"Well." Sirius paused for a moment as if trying to find the right words, but then he continued "I don't know if it is exactly true or not, but I believe that when you had that potion at the end of the year, the one which made you encounter Voldemort in your dreams may have been to strong. If it was then the potion may still be running through you. You may be stuck with this for the rest of your life, or maybe just a little while longer. I am sure that Voldemort never intended on this happening, He would most likely know the consequence if this is the reason why you had these dreams about the American school. He wouldn't want you to be able to know what was coming, because then you would be able to protect yourself and others."  
  
Harry thought about this for a moment, thinking about how it all made sense. He suddenly had a question about all this, "if that is true, then what about before I had the potion? Or even the years before this happened?"  
  
Sirius was taking into consideration that it was possible that it was all by mere coincidence, that he could have just been dreaming and Voldemort's plans just came to him.  
  
"Well it could have been possible that you have been drinking that certain potion all year long, but I don't know what to tell you about previous years." Sirius paused and then went on "I think that maybe you should talk to Ron, Hermione, and Tim about this when you see them on the train. This way they might have other information for you."  
  
Harry just nodded because this was more than he intended on finding out when he went to meet his godfather. It was soon time for Harry to go back to the Dursley's and Sirius agreed, still having to fix up the house. They said their good-byes and Harry watched Sirius go back into a form of a dog. The rest of the day went by quickly for Harry. His head was so full that he didn't even notice when the Dursley's would yell at him or order him around. He just kept in mind that the next day he would be leaving the Dursley's for good.  
  
The next day Harry woke up excited for the day. Today was the day; he was finally leaving the Dursley's. It didn't matter anymore how much they yelled at him or how much they disliked him, he was going to be gone for good.  
  
Harry headed downstairs and said cheerfully to the rest "Good morning everyone!"  
  
A disgruntled Vernon looked up and said "What are you so happy about boy?"  
  
"Well you should be happy as well."  
  
"And why is that?"  
  
"I am not going to be living here anymore. Today my godfather is coming to pick me up and I am going to live with him from now on. I won't be of any inconvenience to you anymore!" Harry said this all very happily considering the annoyed look on his uncle's face.  
  
"How will he be arriving? Will he be driving some dump? Well however he gets here, he better not blast away half of my sitting room like the last freak that came here!"  
  
Vernon was starting to get angry, but all at the same time he seemed almost relieved because he would never have to worry about him anymore.  
  
Harry was almost relieved to say that "Yes, he will be coming by car and I highly doubt that it will be a dump like you expect it to be."  
  
This was the last of their conversation because Harry was sensing that Vernon was going to blow his top soon enough. He went up the stairs two at a time and went into his room closing the door behind him. Harry began packing his trunk with all of his supplies. He had almost two hours so he took his time. He checked every nook and cranny in his room including under the loose floorboard under his bed. When it was a quarter past three, Harry started to drag his heavy trunk down the stairs. Finally he got it in the front hall and he realized that he was starting to sweat. He just had to run back upstairs to get his cage in which Hedwig was waiting patiently inside of. She must have known they were leaving because she somehow sensed the happiness al around. Hedwig already known that Harry wasn't really cared for at the Dursley's, and as a matter of fact, she knew she wasn't wanted there either because of always being locked in her cage.  
  
Harry looked at the clock and saw that it said 3:27, "Sirius should be arriving soon" He thought to himself. This in fact was true, 3 minutes later, when the clock went to 3:30; there was a knock on the door. Harry was waiting in the front hall so he didn't have to wait to long to get out of that dreadful place for good.  
  
Sirius looked at Harry with a big smile on his face "Are you read to go? Well I see that you are since you already have your things down here!"  
  
Harry then called out to the Dursley's "I'm leaving now! Good-Bye!"  
  
He just heard Dudley fall of his chair, he felt it as well. Harry just thought this happened because he was Dudley knew that another wizard was there. Dudley was probably remembering when he first met Hagrid and then the second time when his tongue was practically ripped out of his mouth.  
  
"Would you like help with your trunk?" Sirius asked kindly.  
  
"Sure!"  
  
Soon they were headed out towards the dark green car which was borrowed from the Ministry. They had just got it into the trunk when they saw Mrs. Figg from across the street. She came over to greet them.  
  
"Hello Harry. How is your summer?"  
  
"It wasn't that bad, even though the Dursley's tried to make it my worst!"  
  
Mrs. Figg started to chuckle at this, "Well I see that you are going to be living with your godfather!"  
  
She didn't expect Harry to say anything, but that was ok because he was trying to figure out what was wrong with Mrs. Figg. He could tell that something was wrong because she didn't look her usual self today. "It must be about the American school." Harry thought to himself. To him this was the most logical explanation, since it had just happened.  
  
Harry went into the car and waited for Sirius, he was talking to Mrs. Figg, but he didn't exactly know what it was about.  
  
About 5 minutes later, Sirius got into the car and started the engine with a touch of his wand. They drove off and Harry was warned that it may be a bit of a ride. They spent most of the ride talking, mostly about Quidditch and school and who the new teachers may be.  
  
They had been silent for about 20 minutes when Harry suddenly asked "What's my surprise?" He only asked this hoping to trick Sirius into saying it.  
  
"Now now Harry, you already know what I am going to say. You have to wait until you get there!" Sirius said this with a grin spreading across his face.  
  
For the rest of the ride Harry kept on trying to get it out of Sirius, or at least try to get some hints from him. Sirius knew that he really wanted to know, and personally he wanted to tell him just wanting to see to happiness form on Harry's face. He decided that he wouldn't even give him one hint; Sirius wanted Harry to be completely surprised.  
  
Harry soon fell asleep; the drive was beginning to get tiresome. When they were about 5 minutes away Sirius gave Harry a slight shove while saying "Harry! We're nearly there!" Harry woke up suddenly because he really wanted to see where he was going to be living for the rest of the summer. They started to head up a winding road, which to Harry's guess must have led to the house. To Harry's astonishment, he was right! There were no words to describe how the house looked. It was made entirely out of stone and had large windows. There were heavy wooden doors and a path which led to the backyard. When they stepped out of the car, Harry ran as fast as he could up to the house. When he reached the doors he noticed that there were two brass door knockers in the shape of a lion on each door. Harry looked back at Sirius, who nodded for Harry to go in. Harry pushed open the doors and was stunned; he had never seen a place of this size or beauty. There were magnificent wood floors, a spiraling staircase which went up to the second floor and then continued to a third. There was a balcony in which a shimmering banner hung; it said "WELCOME HOME HARRY!!" There was one on the other side of the stairs as well, that one read "HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!!"  
  
Harry felt like this was truly his home, it actually seemed like the whole house was a replica of the Gryffindor common room. There were deep red chairs which were by a fire with matching curtains that were opened and the sunlight as streaming in. Harry felt for sure that this was his surprise, for he had never seen a house of this size or this magnificent. When Sirius walked in, Harry realized that he had been standing in the same spot for nearly ten minutes. Harry turned around and looked at Sirius when he said "Well Harry aren't you going to look around, or even take a look in the back?" Harry realized that there must have been something back there because he saw that grin on his godfathers face.  
  
Harry soon found his way to the doors which led into the backyard. Harry immediately saw three shadows on the ground which was moving very rapidly. He looked up and saw that it was three people on broomsticks and by the looks of it they were playing a game of Quidditch. Harry had to shake his head to make sure he was seeing correctly, just then he heard Sirius exclaim "Harry!! Are you feeling all right?" Harry knew he was saying this with a tone of amusement in his voice and tried to say something back but he couldn't speak!  
  
"So." Sirius said walking over to Harry. "Does this mean you like it?"  
  
"How……how…..how did you manage to get a Quidditch field in your backyard?!"  
  
"Well you see just recently there was an old wizard that lived here, he knew he was dying so he wanted to sell he house, along with the field. You may be wondering why he had a Quidditch field in his backyard, so that is why I am going to tell you before you even ask. Well he used to be on the Quidditch team for England, well of course that was many years ago, but he had a few kids of his own and decided to spruce it up a bit for them."  
  
Harry just stared, he understood all of this, but he just couldn't speak. He was living in a house that once belonged to a member of the England Quidditch team.  
  
After a few moments he heard his name being called from above him, he looked up to see that those three people he had noticed before were Ron, Hermione and Remus Lupin.  
  
"Hi Harry!!" Everyone replied but Ron.  
  
After a few moments Ron said "Hi Harry!"  
  
At this everyone laughed, including Ron. They all knew he had done this on purpose; he just didn't want to say it at the same time with Hermione and Remus.  
  
"So I take it that this is my surprise?" Harry said eagerly.  
  
Everyone looked at Sirius, expecting him to say something. "Well……" He began. "This is well pretty much most of it! Wait, what were you talking about? The Quidditch field?"  
  
"Well what else is there?" Harry was now getting anxious; he really wanted to know the rest!  
  
"Well……" He was going to continue but Hermione interrupted him. "Harry!! We're staying with you for the rest of the summer!"  
  
Harry was astounded; his friends were really going to stay with him in this magnificent house for almost a month!  
  
"Hey sorry about uh taking a go on your surprise before you got to." Ron was trying to sound guilty, but Harry could notice the grin which was now beginning to spread across his face.  
  
"It's okay, for now." Harry said this trying to sound like he was planning something. This had evidently worked because he noticed that Ron's expression had changed.  
  
"W-What do you mean for now?"  
  
"I don't know, I guess if I think of something to do, like if I ever feeling like getting back at someone, then I know where to turn." Harry was now beginning to laugh exceptionally hard, he could barely breathe! It was most likely to have been how fast Ron's facial expressions had changed so quickly. "So what else have you done, which was supposed to be my surprise?" Harry said after finally holding back his laughter.  
  
"Well if you must know, absolutely nothing. We were bored, so Remus offered to play us in a game of Quidditch to make time go by faster. I didn't even go see your room." Ron said this and Harry could tell that he wasn't lying. Ron had always been a terrible liar, or maybe the two of them were such great friends that he was able to tell the difference.  
  
As soon as Harry heard about his room, Sirius noticed Harry looking at him and said, up the stairs and five doors down on your left. At this, Harry raced up to the house and through the back door. He found his way back to the front of the house and ran up the stairs. He reached the second floor and starting counting the doors. He reached the fifth door and opened it; he was shocked by its size and the things inside of it. There was a full size bed, which was against one of the walls. He noticed that there was a bookshelf which took up most of the wall opposite to his bed. There were large windows with deep red hangings which were almost identical to those in the entrance. He went to the window and saw the view; it was breathtaking. He realized how much land his godfather really owned; he saw a rather nice looking sized lake with a wooded section in the background. He noticed that there was a worn pathway leading into this forest that one could only see from above. He decided to explore it some other time. At this moment, he didn't know how to describe how he felt, and Ron, and Hermione soon found that out as they were standing behind him in awe.  
  
"Wow, this is probably double the size of our rooms put together!" Ron managed to sputter.  
  
Harry turned at them with a smile on his face. It took Harry a brief moment to process what Ron had just said. "WHAT! Your rooms?"  
  
"Well yeah Harry, you don't expect us to all sleep in the same room now do you?" Hermione asked.  
  
"I think you left out a part Hermione." Ron whispered to Hermione.  
  
"What?? Oh yeah!" Her face lit up as she spoke these last words.  
  
"What do you mean 'Oh yeah'?" Harry wanted to know what they were hiding from him.  
  
"Well I mean this house is so big, and when they asked us to spend the rest of the summer, they suggested that we could always have our own rooms here because well…..whenever we would come to visit you. Remus thought that it would be too much of a hassle to have to bring the same items here every summer. Do you not want us to have our own rooms Harry?" Hermione said these last words sweetly.  
  
"No, it's not that. It was just a bit of a shock. You know what I mean?"  
  
"Yeah I think I know how you feel. Okay maybe not exactly but like when this summer before I got here, Fred and George bought me a new broom. So well considering that it was from them, it shocked me." Ron said all of this quickly.  
  
They spent the rest of the day exploring the house and trying not to get lost, that was how humongous it was. Soon it was time for dinner and considering how nice the night was, they all decided to eat outside. The five of them sat at a table that Sirius conjured from nowhere, the food was delicious and Harry realizing how little he ate today began to fill his plate with chicken, potatoes, salad and much, much more. They were all silent for the time being considering they all had food in their mouths. Harry was just looking around, still trying to make himself believe that this was really happening, when he saw something by one of the unoccupied chairs a few meters away. Harry stared at it until he figured out what it was; he could not believe his eyes. Hermione saw Harry staring off into the night, so she followed his gaze, when she saw what he was staring at she let out a gasp which everyone heard. They all looked at the two of them looking of somewhere; slowly the rest followed their gazes and were shocked. They noticed a small rat by the leg of the chair. The rat just sat there looking at them hopefully and sniffing the air. The little rat then stood up on its hind legs and they all noticed that it was not missing anything from where a human finger would be. Harry let out an almost silent sound of relief when he saw that, he thought that it was Wormtail.  
  
Sirius caught the rat by holding out a piece of bread for him. The little rat came over and that was when Sirius snatched him up by his tail, examining him very closely. He then used let the rat down realizing it wasn't the traitor that went by the name of Wormtail.  
  
That night, nobody slept easily, Harry and Sirius had the worst night compared to the rest. Harry crept out of bed silently and went to the stairs. He practically tiptoed down them, not wanting to wake anyone. When he got to the first level, he went into the kitchen to get a glass of water when he saw Sirius sitting at the wooden table. Neither of them seemed shocked to see one another, so Harry continued to the cupboards and got out a glass and poured water in from a pitcher from the counter. He walked back to the table and sat across from Sirius who looked exhausted. They sat in silence for a few moments and then Harry said "What would happen if Wormtail did find his way here?" Sirius looked up, trying to think of the best way to answer this. "Well, he probably would have ran away when he saw Remus and I sitting there with you. If not that then somehow he would take you like he did last year and return you to Voldemort in hope of being rewarded." Harry just starred at Sirius' face, trying to see if he was really telling him the truth. After a while Harry looked away, not being able to read his face. He soon thought it was best to change the subject to something more enjoyable, something that had been on his mind for while now. "Sirius?" Harry asked waiting for a reply. "Yes Harry?" Sirius replied with somewhat concern in his tone. "Well earlier you said that this house once belonged to a Quidditch player. Well, you said he had kids, did they become any national Quidditch players?" At this Sirius chuckled "I think that is up to you to find out, I believe that there may be some clues somewhere in this house. I have yet to explore it all." Harry was a little disappointed; he thought he could at least be told about this wizard's children.  
  
"Well where am I supposed to look then? I don't even know where to begin!" Harry said wanting to know who these children were and why Sirius would not tell him.  
  
"I suppose you can start with all of those books that are in your room. If you go to the third floor and down to the end of the hall there is a library there with many more books than of those in your room."  
  
"You must really want me to be more like Hermione don't you? I mean you are putting books in my room and telling me there is a library in our house!" Harry said all of this with a laugh of course.  
  
"No, it's really because all of these books were already in the house and I just couldn't bare myself to throw them all away. Most of them are about Quidditch you know! Of course they were from long ago and are filled with old moves and tactics. There are other kinds of books though; they go from being about to muggles to being all about how to detect dark magic."  
  
"Wow! So how many of those are about Quidditch?"  
  
"You honestly haven't heard a word I said have you! Once I mentioned the word, which I won't mention now, you just got all dreamy! In fact it reminds me of how James would act."  
  
Harry was about to say something when he heard someone coming down the stairs, it was Hermione.  
  
"H-H-Harry w-w-what a-are y-you d-doing up s-so e-earl-ly?" Hermione said trying her best to stifle a yawn.  
  
"What do you mean what am I doing up so early?"  
  
"Well what I mean is that why are you up so early! It's not even 8 o'clock!"  
  
Harry looked at Sirius who seemed to be thinking the same thing 'They stayed up all night!' Pretty soon everyone else came stumbling down the stairs, which were only Ron and Remus. Harry went back up to his room to get changed. He saw Hedwig outside the window waiting to get in; he went to the window quickly and opened it. Hedwig then flew in and dropped a letter on Harry's head. He noticed that it was the usual letter from Hogwarts; he decided he would open it later.  
  
Harry reached the kitchen 5 minutes later and he already heard the bacon sizzling on the stove. When he saw that Sirius was the one cooking he almost crashed into the wall.  
  
"Sirius! I never knew you could cook!" Harry said realizing the wall was right there.  
  
Sirius just shot him an evil glare.  
  
The rest of breakfast cooked quickly and it was just as delicious as it smelled.  
  
  
  
  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent the rest of the summer playing Quidditch in the backyard and searching through the books trying to find out who Sirius was talking about. On the last day before they were to return to Hogwarts, Harry stayed up late, thinking about how much he enjoyed the summer; for the first time in awhile, he had a summer in which nothing went wrong.  
  
Harry was awoken early by the sound of a loud bang coming from out in the hall followed by a yell. He jumped out of bed to see what happened. Harry saw that Ron was hopping around on one foot and his face was red from the pain. It turns out that he was trying to get his trunk by the door but he ended up dropping it on his foot instead. Harry was about to feel sorry for Ron, but then he realized he had woken him up and laughed instead. He eventually went over to Ron and helped him carry the trunk down the stairs. Everything seemed hectic that morning, falling trunks, burnt breakfast all thanks to Sirius. "Sirius, I thought you could cook?" Ron asked cautiously. "Well if it wasn't for you dropping your trunk and yelling out it never would have happened!" Sirius tried to say this sternly, but he ended up grinning and laughing.  
  
I no time at all the three of them were finding a compartment on the train. They finally found an empty one towards the end of the train and sat inside. Quite a few people came to visit them in about half an hour. Seamus, Neville, Dean and a few more. One of the last people that came in was Tim.  
  
"Hey everyone! How was your summer?" Tim said with a smile on his face.  
  
"It was great! What about yours?" Harry said hoping he didn't want to know the details since there were many people which believed Sirius was guilty.  
  
"Just like any other summer, stay up late, sleep in; practice Quidditch in the backyard with my brothers."  
  
Hermione, who didn't know what Harry was thinking said, "Well the three of us spent about that last month of the holidays together."  
  
They continued their conversation for quite some time when the trolley came around. Harry once again bought for everyone to share. When Tim and Ron stepped out for a moment that was when Harry voiced what was on his mind.  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
"Yes Harry."  
  
"Well in the letter you sent with my gift, you said that you would talk about what happened last year. Are you still going to tell me? If not I understand."  
  
"No it's not that Harry, I want to tell you actually. I need someone to talk to about it; maybe it will help me recover from it."  
  
Just when she was about to start with her story, she suddenly said "I think that I will wait for Ron and Tim to come back, I may need help with some parts and I think Tim should hear this as well."  
  
They waited in silence for a few moments more when they returned.  
  
"Ron, I have told Harry about wanting to tell the story of what happened and I may need your help. Do you mind?"  
  
Ron just looked at Hermione as if he didn't expect her to actually want to talk about this. He then nodded his head in agreement.  
  
"Well Ron and I met up at the station; we were waiting for you because we hadn't seen you all summer. It was getting close to the time for which the train would be pulling away. We decided that we should just go through and hopefully we would find you on the train already. So we went through the platform at the same time and we searched the compartments, most of them were empty, all except for one at the very end." At this point Hermione looked as if she was about to cry, but she went on hoping to feel better after it was all out in the open. "When we looked in the last compartment, we saw some sort of creatures standing in there looking as if they were just about to leave. Right when we opened the door, they did some kind of spell and we were knocked out. I suppose that was when you were looking for us. Those creatures, or whatever they were, must have known who you were because from what you told us, they were right behind you after you have been looking for us for quite some time. The only weird thing is that, it wasn't the polyjuice potion, because we felt like we were in out bodies, but we couldn't do anything. We weren't being controlled by these things, like you have in the past by the Imperius Curse, but it was like these creatures were acting through us. I know that I have read somewhere which said about creatures like this, but I don't remember what they are called." Hermione stopped telling them what had happened when Harry had a question. "You said that you were still in your regular bodies, not using the polyjuice potion, but when Snape and Lucius came to me, they were in the form of the two of you. Snape told me to find you and I did with the help of Fawkes, you said that you were in your bodies but not controlling yourselves, why? How did I find you then?" Hermione didn't know exactly how to answer this, it almost seemed as if she didn't know the answer to his question, but she said "Well Harry I don't really know, it could always be that somehow these creatures could not continue with this anymore so maybe they went to You-Know-Who and told him, maybe then he decided to choose people which were loyal to him. That is just my guess, for all I know it may be true because when you found us, we were knocked out right?" Harry nodded and Hermione continued. "Well the last thing I remember before that is you falling on the ground in the corridor at school, so maybe sometime after that, was when maybe the polyjuice potion was being used." Harry thought this made some sense, but he said "Well I think that sometime when we get to school, we should talk to Dumbledore about this, but not tonight, we are getting students from America." Everyone just looked at him, to shocked to speak. Soon the train started to slow down, so they thought it was best if they changed into their robes.  
  
They made their way to the horseless carriages and started the journey up to the school. They were silent most of the way, all lost in their own thoughts. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Tim all sat next to each other at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. The four of them talked about what might be happening this year, and Harry also told them about his dream. They couldn't believe it when Harry told them about what Sirius said about the potion being in his body still.  
  
In a matter of moments Dumbledore stood up and announced "Welcome everyone, the Sorting Ceremony will begin shortly. Ah and here they come now!"  
  
Harry looked up and noticed that there were several students that looked older than the rest. "Those must be the students from America." Harry said slowly remembering that they were here because of Voldemort.  
  
Hermione noticed that Harry seemed troubled so she said "Harry, it's not your fault! The only people to blame are Voldemort and the deatheaters!"  
  
Harry looked at Hermione "I know that it's not my fault, but it's how I saw everything happen before my eyes and I couldn't do anything about it."  
  
No one said anything to this, either no one knew what to say or it was because the sorting had begun. The first few students became Ravenclaw's. Harry looked over at the table and saw Cho, he saw her applauding the new first years. Cho looked over at Harry and then smiled, before that he was unsure of his feelings for her, but at that moment he realized he still liked her. He wondered if she felt that same way.  
  
Harry was brought from his thoughts when he heard Dumbledore mention the American students.  
  
"Now that all of our first have been sorted, it is time for our new sixth year students. They are from America and I trust that all of you will make them feel like they are at home."  
  
The first one that was to be sorted was Kenny; the hat was fairly quick with its decision before it shouted out "GRYFFINDOR!" The table started to clap for its new sixth year and as Kenny walked towards the table, Harry noticed that most of the girls were watching him intently and giggling. Kenny sat in an open spot by Ron and watched as the rest of his friends were being sorted. Hermione seemed to notice that Kenny was trying to be cheerful, but she saw in his eyes that he was still upset and on the verge of tears. She looked at Harry and by the way he looked at her, he had noticed it too. In this time almost everyone had been sorted; they had all gotten into Gryffindor. The last person who still hadn't been sorted was Allison. She walked over to the stool and placed the hat on her head. She was sitting there for quite sometime, all eyes on her, waiting to see where she would be placed.  
  
Allison heard the hat speaking softly in her ear "Well aren't you a powerful one. You are brave yet sneaky, intelligent while amusing. You know you are powerful, but you don't know how much do you? Well you shall find out momentarily so I think it will be best to place you in GRYFFINDOR!!" The last words were screamed to the hall and the Gryffindor table cheered for her as she walked to her friends.  
  
Allison sat between Harry and Jennifer and looked at the people around her.  
  
"Hello!" Allison said warmly.  
  
"Hi!" Hermione said hoping Allison was another person that goes to the library.  
  
"My name is Allison. What are yours?" She said obviously not noticing Harry was right besides her.  
  
"I'm Hermione Granger. This is Ron Weasley, Timothy Ridicule, and Harry Potter." She said pointing to everyone.  
  
Allison then looked quickly to her right as if she was surprised to see him sitting right next to her. Harry automatically thought that she was going to look up at his scar and then say 'hello', but he was wrong and surprised. "Hello Harry." Allison said as she stuck out her hand, she then shook hands with everyone else and said hello. Eventually all of the American sixth years were introduced to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Tim. They were just starting to talk to one another when Dumbledore stood up to give the notices.  
  
"Welcome back and welcome to all of our new students! As you know there will be some changes this year, first I shall start with the teachers. For Care of Magical Creatures, will be Hagrid, who will also be tending to the grounds. For Defence Against the Dark Arts, will be Professor Snape." When Harry heard this he jaw had dropped, he looked at his friends who wore identical expressions. Dumbledore soon continued after a brief pause "For potions, Professor Figg. I trust that you will behave in all of your classes, now on with the rest of the notices. As you should all know, the forest on the grounds is strictly forbidden, there are many creatures in there and they are highly dangerous. With Voldemort gaining power rapidly, it would be wise not to enter the forest, we do not know what he may try. Mr. Filch has added to the list of of items which are not to be in school, you may see that in his office, and as you all know, there will be no use of magic in the corridors between classes! Now I believe you would like to see your plates filled with food and for me to stop talking, so dig in!" At these last words chatter spread throughout the great hall, mostly everyone was discussing how Snape could ever become the new DADA teacher.  
  
The feast continued on and everyone was talking to the American students, they didn't seem to mind this that much except they wanted to talk to Ron, Hermione, Tim, and Harry. They had been the only ones who seemed more interested in them then where they came from. In a matter of moments, things took a turn for the worse and everyone around Harry noticed it as well.  
  
"Harry? What's wrong?" Hermione asked.  
  
Harry just looked at her as if nothing was wrong but then he said "I have to kill, I have to kill Dumbledore. You probably never would have thought that the boy who lived would never want to kill him would you? Well you're wrong! I have been on Voldemort's side all along, since the first time we met face to face. Now excuse me while I concentrate."  
  
Everyone that was around him heard this, luckily it was only the new transfer students and Ron, Hermione, and Tim. They were all staring at him in shock, not knowing what to do. If they went up to Dumbledore, this would surely attract attention, if they didn't then, they didn't want to know what would happen.  
  
Dumbledore had taken a brief pause from his meal and was looking around at all the students, being happy and cheerful. He then came to the Gryffindor table, when he looked at Harry; he immediately knew something was wrong.  
  
Allison was staring at Harry trying to figure out what she should do. She decided that the best thing to be done was to talk to Harry and clear his mind. "Harry! Come on Harry look at me, don't listen to it. Don't let it fool you, don't let it take control of your body." She kept saying things like this and it wasn't until Dumbledore came over that she stopped and looked up at him.  
  
"Harry I think its best for us to leave the Great Hall so we can talk." Dumbledore said this with a surprisingly amount of calmness in his voice.  
  
Harry just looked at him with disgust, but then a look of delight spread over his face, 'I can finally succeed in killing him' Harry thought. He got up and started towards the doors. He didn't notice that Allison was also following them. When they reached the corridor, the closed the doors so no one would be able to see what was happening.  
  
Harry turned around in all directions seeing that he was surrounded by teachers. He noticed Professor's Figg, Snape and Lupin all around him including Dumbledore. They were all watching him intently, waiting for what he would say or do. Suddenly Harry saw Allison move into the circle with a look of determination on her face, Dumbledore looked at her and nodded, she did the same.  
  
Allison walked over to Harry and placed her hands on both sides of his face. She was whispering something that not even Harry could hear. He suddenly heard something which sounded oddly like Allison. "Harry, listen to me. I am doing this for a reason; forgive me if this hurts you. Whatever is controlling you trying to get you to kill Professor Dumbledore. I know that the real you can hear and understand me so you have to fight Harry, don't let it overpower you or it may be the end for us all." Suddenly Allison stopped talking and looked straight into Harry's eyes hoping that she would be able to help Harry. She was concentrating and starting to notice her energy and power increasing.  
  
Harry began to hear that voice in the back of his head once more, he tried to fight it and look into Allison's eyes. But it was just too strong. He noticed Allison looking deeply into his eyes. Suddenly Harry began to feel the pain in which Allison was talking about, it felt like his brain was in a tug of war, one was telling him to ignore it, and the other was trying to get him to kill. Suddenly not only had he felt a pain in his head, but in his scar as well. He figured that the deatheaters must be doing something to him unless it was Allison.  
  
The pain was becoming excruciating and his eyes were brimming with tears. He knew he was going to pass out any moment, and sure enough he was right. In a matter of moments, he was lying motionless on the floor. Everyone was standing around him; Dumbledore picked him up in his arms and carried him to the hospital wing.  
  
  
  
As soon as Harry was allowed to have visitors, Hermione and Ron were in there everyday, hoping and waiting for him to wake up. They would just sit in there talking to each other and doing their homework. It was a rainy afternoon when Harry finally woke up. Hermione and Ron had just taken their seats by his bed. They were talking when they heard Harry moving in his bed. Hermione and Ron looked at Harry and then at one another. Harry was about to sit up when he realized that the pain was still there, it felt like his head had been split in two. He reached groggily for his glasses and placed them on his face. He tried sitting up once more but Madam Pomfrey came and gave Harry a sleeping potion. As soon as the potion touched his lips he fell into a deep sleep.  
  
Harry woke up the next day to find the room bright with sunlight. He also noticed Ron and Hermione walk through the door.  
  
"Hey Harry! How are you feeling?" Ron said hopefully.  
  
"Well I think that I will be doing much better when I get out of here." Harry said anxiously.  
  
Hermione was about to say something, but Madam Pomfrey came into the room and told them "It is time for you to leave; Harry will be able to leave shortly."  
  
Harry looked at the two of them sadly and then nodded.  
  
After a last minute check up, Harry was finally able to leave. The first place he went was the common room, but when he got to the portrait, he realized he never got the password. He was just thinking about where he should go when he realized that it should be time for lunch any time now, so he headed back down the stairs and walked into the great hall. He was one of the first students in there, but when he walked in he got the reaction which he expected. Harry saw the students in the great hall look at him, almost immediately they started whispering to their neighbor. Suddenly Harry heard someone talking to him from behind, he turned and saw that it was Allison. "This is how they always react huh?" Harry just looked at her and smiled, it was the first smile he had for a few days now. "Yeah pretty much, I bet right now their thinking I almost killed Dumbledore and half the ministry was called in and that it took one hundred trained wizards to control me." Allison laughed at this, and then said "So, do you want to just stand here and continue getting weird looks? Or would you like to sit down?" So Harry, obviously not wanting people to stare at him once again, followed Allison to the Gryffindor table and sat down. They were talking for a few moments before Ron and Hermione walked in. "Why didn't you come up to the common room Harry?" Hermione asked looking at Allison. "Well when I got to the portrait, I couldn't remember the password so I decided to come down here since lunch would be starting soon." Hermione just looked at Harry and smiled, she remembered that he couldn't have known the password.  
  
They sat there for awhile just talking, not even touching their food. Harry heard all about how brutal Snape had been towards the Gryffindor's, about how many points he took and how much homework he assigned them. Harry, who was finally beginning to fell the hunger lurking up on him, began to eat. Just as he had started on his lunch, he was called over by Professor McGonagall. "Since you were not here to receive your timetable, I have it now for you. Now I hope you understand that just because you were in the hospital wing that you will be given any slack." Harry looked up and said "I know." She noticed how he said this and then she gave Harry a reassuring smile. Harry then walked back to his table and Ron asked "What did she want?" Harry noticed that he nodded towards Professor McGonagall. "That I should not expect to be given any slack, and then she gave me my timetable."  
  
When Harry looked at his timetable, it was just a glance, but then he looked at it again and groaned. "We have DADA next! Great it's my first day back to classes and I already have something to look forward to!" He said this sarcastically.  
  
Soon lunch was over and everyone went back to their common rooms to get their books for the next class. Harry looked around, and for the first time, he realized how different this year would be. First of all, Fred and George weren't going to be there. Harry always looked forward to seeing them when he was down; they always seemed to make him laugh. The second thing was that, he wouldn't be playing Quidditch with them anymore; he would have to grow to trust completely new beaters.  
  
Harry and Ron went up to their dorm to get their DADA book and some parchment. They then met Hermione in the common room and headed miserably towards DADA. They walked into the classroom much to their dislike. Professor Snape looked up and a sinister grin spread over his face. "Why, Mr. Potter; so nice of you to join us. I dare say you will have a lot to do before you catch up, and then you can go back to your ways of loosing more points for your house." After Snape said this, Harry realized that Snape wasn't trying to be all that cruel because he noticed the look in his eyes. It wasn't the loathing look that was usually in his eyes, but, a look that almost looked kind. Harry decided not to worry about this and took his seat awaiting the horrid lesson ahead.  
  
"Today we will learn about a creature called the Kalam. Now, can anyone tell me what this creature is?" Snape looked around the room and then said with a mock surprise, "Well I take it no one has even bothered to look over their book during the holiday."  
  
Harry was somewhat surprised that when he looked at Hermione, her hand wasn't raised. He wanted to ask her, but he would rather wait then get detention with Snape. Just the thought of that chills go down his spine.  
  
Harry's thoughts were interrupted when Snape continued with the lesson. "Well since no one can tell me what the Kalam is, I guess that I will have to tell you. The Kalam is a sort of creature that can take the form of anything it wishes. Now there are many ways that the Kalam can do this, but I will not tell you unless you start paying attention and taking down notes since you will be tested on this! As I was saying." He paused and looked around the room just to hear the scratching of quills on parchment. Soon enough he continued "They can take the form of anything by saying or doing one of the following. The first way to take form is to say a special incantation, I will not say it at the moment because it is believed that by saying it, you will bring the Kalam and they will cause harm. One of the other ways is to make a potion, it is a very bitter tasting potion but it is not my duty to tell you about potions. The last way could be somewhat painful, more painful than the others at least. All they have to do is concentrate really hard on changing form, the process to this is very slow and somewhat unnerving. The best thing to do……" He was cut short of his sentence from the bell which signaled the end of the period.  
  
The rest of the day was somewhat uneventful. That night at dinner, Harry remembered he had a question for Hermione. "Er, Hermione?" Hermione just looked up at Harry from her plate and asked "Yes?" Harry suddenly realized that this might sound weird, but then he remembered it was Hermione, when she didn't raise her hand it was considered weird. "Well today in DADA, why didn't you raise you hand when Snape was asking the question?" Hermione suddenly grew red and looked as if she was about to burst in tears. "On the first day of class, the first thing Snape announced was that I will not be aloud to answer any questions unless asked." Harry realized how upset she was and just gave her a hopeful smile which she returned feebly.  
  
"So, Harry." Tim said who was sitting right across from Harry.  
  
Harry looked up to see that Tim was about to continue so he remained silent.  
  
"What are we going to do about the Quidditch team this year since it is only two of us?"  
  
"Well I don't really know to be honest. The first thing we will do is hold tryouts, but I think we should discuss this in the common room so we would be able to think more clearly."  
  
Tim agreed with this and went back to his plate. A few moments later students started heading up to their common rooms. Harry went up with Hermione and Ron, Tim was a short way behind. When they got to the portrait of the Fat Lady, Harry listened closely so he would not miss the pass word. "Tabanisha!" Hermione said to the portrait. Harry was the third one in the common room and he went to Ron and asked, "Hey Ron, how long are you planning on staying up tonight?" Ron looked confused so he looked at Harry "What are you talking about? I don't see why it matters that much since there are no classes tomorrow." Now it was Harry's turn to have that confused look on his face. "Today is Friday? How long was I in the hospital wing?" Ron started to laugh at how puzzled Harry was. "Harry! You were in there for over a week!" Harry didn't say anything to this because he was being called over by Tim. The two of them walked over to the armchairs by the fire and sat across from each other starting to discuss what they would do for tryouts.  
  
"Well we can always start practice either tomorrow or Sunday." Tim said slowly.  
  
"Yeah and then have tryouts for a different position every other day. Then that should leave us enough time to prepare ourselves for our first Quidditch match. Even though there are only two different positions to be filled, we need to find two beaters and three chasers. This will still give us enough time to make our final decision." Harry said this with great relief since this was beginning to be easier than he thought.  
  
"So is that how we're going to hold tryouts?" Tim asked.  
  
"Yeah I guess so, now we just have to make an announcement." Harry said starting to get on his feet.  
  
Harry walked over to one of the round tables and climbed on it; this immediately started to attract attention.  
  
"Can I have your attention please? Anyone that is interested in playing Quidditch this season, there will be tryouts starting tomorrow. I know that this may seem short notice, but Tim and I figured this was necessary in order to have time to practice for the upcoming matches. Now, tryouts will be held all week, there will be different tryouts every other day. The tryouts for beater will be held on Saturday and Sunday of this weekend and then starting on Monday we will be holding tryouts for chaser. Since more people are needed for the chaser position, tryouts will be held for three days instead of two. I will be posting a sign-up sheet momentarily and anyone who is interested in trying out will just have to sign the sheet. Thank you and good luck." Harry felt a little weird when he stepped off the table, he half expected the cheers of Fred and George which would make everyone laugh and join in. Harry knew it right then and there that this year would not be the same.  
  
Harry walked over to Ron and Hermione and asked "Are any of you going to try out for the team?"  
  
Ron looked at Harry in surprise. "Harry, you know that the only position that I'm good at is keeper!"  
  
"Well this summer I thought that you were pretty good at being chaser and Hermione you made a pretty good beater!" Harry replied looking from Ron to Hermione.  
  
This time, Hermione was the one that was surprised. "Do you really mean that Harry??"  
  
Harry just smiled and said, "Yes Hermione! You should really try out to be one of the beaters; I think that you would be able to make it!"  
  
Hermione was about to say something when the portrait door flew open. The three of them couldn't see who it was considering the fact that everyone was crowed around the entrance. They quickly made their way to the entrance and to their surprise it was Fred and George!  
  
"Oy Harry!!! George and I thought you might need help to choose beaters to replace us; even though no one can replace us!" Fred said with a laugh.  
  
Harry just laughed and said, "Sure Fred whatever you say!"  
  
Ron walked over to his brothers and asked "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Ron!! I'm shocked! I thought we were your favorite brothers! So you're not happy to see us?" George said trying to keep a straight face, but then he broke into a grin.  
  
"It's not that I'm not happy to see you, but I'm serious! What are you doing here?" Ron exclaimed.  
  
"Well if we told you then it would ruin the surprise!" Fred said with a laugh.  
  
  
  
They all spent the rest of the night talking and playing exploding snap. It wasn't until the fire started to die out when Fred and George thought it was best that they left. Harry had enjoyed their little visit and hoped that they would keep coming back.  
  
Harry and Ron said goodnight to Hermione who was watching them play exploding snap. They all went up to their dormitories and noticed that everyone else was asleep. Ron looked at Harry and then at the window. "Harry, why do you think Fred and George are really here?" Harry seemed to think about this for a moment or two as if deciding his words carefully. "Well it could be for a few reasons; you never no what the two of them are up too! If I had to guess it would either be because they need someone to test their pranks on, or maybe it has something to do with Quidditch, but like I said, its Fred and George, with them anything is possible." Ron simply nodded, but Harry could tell that by the look on his face that he was thinking deeply at the moment. It was soon enough that they were changed into their pajamas and were under the covers of their beds. Even though they both had their hangings closed, Harry could tell that Ron was still awake thinking about a number of things that Harry could never begin to guess.  
  
Harry soon realized that he had never really fallen asleep; he had only been lying in bed for nearly an hour when the sun was rising and the birds began to chirp. Harry figured that since he had a busy day ahead of him, he should get ready for the day. He climbed out of his four poster and changed out of his pajamas. Harry was surprised that he didn't feel as tired as he looked, just by looking at him you could tell he had been awake all night.  
  
Harry looked over at Ron's bed and noticed that he was just getting up. Harry noticed that he never fell asleep either. Soon they were heading down to the common room which was deserted except for a few nervous 4th years which were going to try out for the openings on the Quidditch team.  
  
Harry felt as if his morning was going by fast, all up to the time when the tryouts would begin. As soon as breakfast was over, Harry wished Ron and Hermione good luck since they had both agreed to try out for the team. Harry met up with Tim and they headed down towards the pitch silently. When they got there, they noticed they weren't the only ones there.  
  
"Hey Harry! Hey Tim!" Katie said to the both of them cheerfully.  
  
Harry was surprised, "What are you doing here?" Then remembering the previous night, he added "Not that I'm not glad to see you!"  
  
"Well we decided to help you with picking new team members, and…" Katie never got the chance to continue since she was elbowed in the ribs by Alicia.  
  
Harry was wondering what was going on when he heard a very familiar voice. "Hi Harry! I hear your captain and that you won the cup last year!"  
  
"Oliver?!?! Are you here to help us decide as well?" Harry said with a note of astonishment in his voice.  
  
"Well yes and no, but before you ask about the no, I will not tell you so you will have to wait until you either figure it out or we tell you. Oh and by the well, you won't find out until next year, so you have a enough time to figure it all out." Oliver said with a wink.  
  
Harry was about to ask Oliver what he meant by this, but he then he saw that students were already making their way to the pitch. He noticed that a number of them were extremely nervous. Harry walked over to the group of students and said "Hello everyone! I'm glad that you were all able to make to tryouts. As you know today and tomorrow will be when the beater tryouts will be taking place. Now I would like to wish you all good luck!" With that the tryouts begun; as Harry was looking at the Gryffindor students, he noticed that Hermione was among them. He walked over to her with a smile on his face, "So I see that you decided to try out after all!" Hermione just looked at him and Harry could tell that she was nervous yet confident. "Well I figured that it wouldn't hurt to at least try out for the team." Harry then turned back to the tryouts; he had to pay close attention if he wanted a marvelous team this season.  
  
The tryouts went on and on, until it was finally Hermione's turn. She was just as spectacular as she was during the summer; if not better. He took her into consideration, but he was not going to pick her just because they were friends. Hermione blocked almost every single bludger. In order for them to make the team, they had to fly in the air watching and waiting for the bludgers. Sometimes they would come right away, or some would catch you off guard. If you blocked 40 out of 50 attacks as they were called, then you were on the team. In the beginning, Harry noticed that Hermione was nervous and that caused her to miss a few, but towards the end, she blocked almost every single one. Harry could tell that choosing beaters was going to be a tough task, but he had to choose the best, no matter who it was.  
  
Soon tryouts were over and they all the students which had tried out started to head back to the castle when Harry made an announcement. "I would like to thank everyone once again for coming out! You all did an excellent job. I will announce who the new beaters are on Friday, which is when I will announce the new chasers." With that they resumed their walked back up to the castle. Harry walked over to Tim, which was by the previous team members.  
  
They all talked for a few minutes, when Fred announced that they should be leaving. Harry didn't want them to go, it had been like old times; all of them together, talking about Quidditch and coming up with ways to beat Slytherin. Harry knew though that he should not be living in the past, looking back on the memories would only bring sadness and possibly worry. Harry thought to himself that spending time with the old team members was not like the good old days, if it was then he wouldn't have to worry about Voldemort because he would still be in hiding. Now is what he had to worry about; he didn't know it, but something was going to happen, it may be today or three months from now, but he had a feeling, even though he was unaware of it, but something was going to happen.  
  
Harry and Tim were silent for most of the time on their way back up to the castle. Tim suddenly broke the silence by asking "Why do you think they were really here?" Harry thought about this for a moment, then looked at Tim "I really don't know why, but I have a feeling that all of it doesn't have to do with the Quidditch team this year. I think he just made it sound like that to mislead us." They were silent after this, they continued their way through the doors. When they got inside the entrance hall, they smelled scrumptious aroma making its way from the great hall. They quickly went up to the common room to drop off the sheets which they had kept track of how many bludgers each person blocked or missed.  
  
They made their way down to the great hall once again in silence. They took their seats by Ron and Hermione and ate the food which had already appeared in front of them. Harry wasn't very talkative, but it went unnoticed. Harry noticed that everyone seemed to be engaged in their own conversations with their neighbors, so of course they wouldn't notice that something was wrong with Harry. As Harry thought about this some more, while looking around at everyone talking happily, he thought to himself "I don't even no what's wrong with me. Why should I expect them to?" Harry went back to his plate and played with his food only eating a little bit here and there. After a few moments, he went back up to his common room without gaining even the slightest bit of attention. The only one that actually knew he was leaving was Dumbledore. Harry had the slightest feeling that someone was watching him; he turned around and noticed that Dumbledore was watching him intently. Harry saw Dumbledore smile at him and then called him over. Harry walked over to the teachers table and stood in front of Dumbledore. "Yes Professor?" Harry asked. "Well Harry I would like it if you came to my office, I have to speak to you and since you are already leaving." Dumbledore said trailing off. So Harry made his way to Dumbledore's office, since he did not know the password he just waited. In a few moments time Dumbledore's cheery face appeared.  
  
Dumbledore said the password (chocolate frogs), and they made they're way to his office. "Harry, take a seat." Dumbledore said motioning to a chair that Harry had sat in since his first year. Harry sat down and said "Er Professor, what did you want to see me for?" Dumbledore seemed to look into Harry's eyes, for some reason Harry felt a little uncomfortable but then that feeling went away. "Well Harry I noticed that you were not acting like yourself today. Is anything wrong?" Harry looked at Dumbledore and decided that he mine as well tell him, even though he didn't know how it would possibly help. "Well I was just trying to figure out why everyone from last years Quidditch team was here, and why Oliver Wood was even here." Harry paused then he added "I also have a strange feeling that something is going to happen; I just cant figure it out. I don't even know why I feel this way." Dumbledore seemed to know how to answer this, but he was silent for a few moments as if he wanted to choose his words carefully. "Well Harry, at the moment I cannot tell you why they are here. I am sure that you will figure it out soon enough. For that feeling you are having, it is probably the cause of Voldemort. You don't know when he will strike next or what he will try. I just have to tell you to keep your eyes open and not to dwell on that too much for it will only bring more fear." Harry looked at his hands, thinking of what he should say. "I don't think that it's about Voldemort Professor, because I know he will always be planning, against the magical world, and against me. I just don't think that's it." Dumbledore had a calm look on his face, almost glad to hear that Harry wasn't completely worried about Voldemort and his return. "Well Harry, then I feel as if you will found out when the time comes. Just do me one thing, don't stop worrying about Voldemort, don't be scared of him, but whatever you do, don't stop worrying about him, for one day he may attack when no one expects it." Harry seemed to understand this but he didn't say anything. "Well that is all Harry; you may go back to your common room." Harry nodded and said "Thank you Professor" and left his office.  
  
Harry made his way back to the Gryffindor tower with his head swimming in his thoughts. When he reached the portrait, he almost passed it, but he soon realized where he was. Harry said quietly "Tabanisha" and the portrait swung open. Harry stepped inside only to be questioned on where he was. "Where were you Harry?" Hermione asked sweetly though with a look of concern on her face. "Well I was about to go up to the common room when Dumbledore called me over; he told me he wanted to speak with me in his office." Harry said with no feeling in his voice. "Well, what did he want?" Ron asked awaiting Harry's answer. "Nothing really." Harry said not wanting to tell them about the feelings he has been having. He just thought it was pointless, he then added noticing the looks on everyone's face, "He just asked me if there was anything bothering me. He usually asks me that every year now that I think about it." Harry, not waiting for a reply, climbed up the stairs to get one of the books which Tim had sent him for his birthday. When Harry finally found it, he didn't notice that someone else was in the room. As he started back towards the stairs, someone stopped him. "Hi, I don't believe we've been properly introduced. I'm Kenneth, but you can call me Kenny or Ken, whichever is easier." Kenny said sticking out a hand. Harry shook it while saying "Hi." Kenny, who was sensing that something was wrong, asked, "You don't really feel like talking at the moment do you?" Harry who was somewhat surprised, said "Yeah its something like that, I just have a lot on my mind, and I don't even know what it is." With that Kenny nodded and said "Well if you ever want to talk about it, or just talk in general, I'm always here." Harry smiled and said, "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." After they finished talking, Harry grabbed his book and headed back to the common room.  
  
When Harry reached the common room, he walked over to a chair by the fire and began to look hurriedly through the pages. Suddenly people were looking at him, watching him as he looked through the book over and over again as if he was looking for something which he missed. Finally after his fifth time flipping through the pages, he found what he was looking for. He read the page to himself:  
  
The Kalam can be a highly dangerous creature. Though it can be known to posses ones body, it is rarely ever used. The Kalam can be used to force one into doing things against their will. These creatures are highly used by Dark wizards and witches and is claimed to be one of the reasons for You Know Who's achievements in the magical world. There are only a handful of wizards in the world that can perform the incantation, though it is proved to be very strenuous. The Kalam can only be used for a short amount of time. When the time runs out, one can use the polyjuice potion to complete ones task. The Kalam is also known to have the ability to erase ones thoughts at any moment during the possession of ones body.  
  
  
  
  
  
Harry stopped reading, and said aloud to himself, "So this is what happened last year." Hermione looked up from her book and asked "Harry, are you feeling okay?" Harry just nodded, not being able to say anything. Just as Harry was about to take his book back upstairs, Tim walked over and asked, "How many people do you think will try out tomorrow?" This took a few moments for Harry to process what Tim had said. "I really don't know. Should I ask them?" Tim just nodded yes, so Harry called for everyone's attention. "Can I have everyone's attention for just one moment? How many of you will be going to tryout tomorrow?" After Harry finished his sentence, there weren't very many hands that went up showing how many were going to be at the tryouts. "Okay thank you." With that everyone went back to what they were doing. "So I guess we're going to have a pretty easy day tomorrow eh!" Tim said happily. Harry just smiled, even though he still had loads on his mind.  
  
Harry walked up the stairs once more, but after he put his book away, he just wanted to go to be alone and the only way of that happening would be for him to go to sleep. Even though the sun still hadn't set, Harry changed into his pajamas and climbed into his bed while closing the hangings.  
  
Harry suddenly realized that when his head touched the pillow, that he wasn't really all that tired. He was about to get out of bed when he heard the door to the boys dormitory open. Harry just lied there and pretend to be asleep, when he heard someone call out his name. "Harry I know your in here, I saw you come up here. Look I really have to show you something, I think you should see it." Harry immediately recognized the voice as Neville's. Harry opened the hangings and walked over towards Neville. Harry saw what Neville had, and groaned. "Yes Neville, what would you like to show me?" Neville bit his bottom lip and said "Well I just read this and I thought it would be best if you read it, so if people start saying things you'll understand." Harry just looked at Neville, waiting him to continue.  
  
"Well….." Neville began. "The things that happened last year….well they were printed in the Daily Prophet…" Neville said trailing off.  
  
Harry took the clippings from Neville's hand, which Harry noticed seemed to be slightly shaking. He read out loud, but mostly to himself:  
  
Harry Potter tragically dies in his one of many dreams…….."  
  
  
  
  
  
Harry paused for a moment; he looked to see who this article was by. "Skeeter." He said with bitterness in his voice. He repeated this several times as he looked at each of the articles. Harry suddenly remembered something; he ran over to the dormitory door and ran down the stairs stumbling along the way. When he reached the common room, he received several looks, but he just ignored them. He looked around for Hermione, and when he spotted her by the fire he ran over to her. "Hello Harry." Hermione said obviously missing the look on his face. "I thought you said that you kept Skeeter!" He said a little more loudly than he intended. "W-What do you mean?" Harry was infuriated, probably more than he should be. He thrust the articles into her hands and she looked through them, almost the same way Harry had. "Well…..one day…..when I came home….I saw that the jar which I was keeping her in was knocked over. I didn't know where she went, so I checked all over my room and then the rest of the house. I was going to tell you Harry, but I just didn't think that it would matter." Hermione said worried by the look on Harry's face. Suddenly Harry's expression changed, he realized that he never should have exploded like how he just did. "I sorry for how I was just acting, I'd better go back upstairs." After Harry said that, he took the articles back and climbed the stairs to the boys' dormitory.  
  
He met no one on his way up the stairs, and when he closed the hangings around his bed once more, he half expected to hear the door open and someone call his name. Harry was practically drowning in his own thoughts that he never noticed falling asleep within five minutes of touching his pillow.  
  
He had a surprisingly dreamless night, considering everything that was going on in his head. When he woke up, he tossed and turned from side to side before finally getting out of bed. He immediately noticed that it was still dark out. Harry looked at his clock and saw that it was 5 in the morning. He knew that he wouldn't have been able to fall back asleep so he got dressed and went to the common room. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he was surprised to see that Tim was down there. "What are you doing up so early?" Harry asked. Tim just looked at Harry and said "Well I couldn't sleep. I don't know why but I just couldn't sleep." Harry didn't say anything, but he just went to the chair he was in the night before and plopped down.  
  
Soon enough more people made their way down the stairs leading from their dormitory, though no one seemed shocked to see that Harry and Tim were up so early. Harry was going to wait for Ron and Hermione, but his stomach began to rumble and so he decided to follow Tim down to the great hall.  
  
They were one of the first students to take their seats and begin on their breakfast. Harry noticed that there were a few nervous looking Gryffindors, "They must be trying out." Harry said to Tim who already started on his toast. Tim looked towards where Harry was looking and chuckled. "They look like they're about to be sick!" Tim said while laughing. Harry then began to laugh because Tim started to choke on his toast from laughing. After Tim had stopped choking, Harry suddenly asked, "Should we hole tryouts for any reserve positions?" Tim looked like he was considering this, and then after a moment or two said "Yeah I think that might be a good idea, with you falling of your broom all the time." Harry looked sharply at Tim, but then he started to laugh. "Where did you hear that?" Harry asked holding back his smile. Tim looked up and said "Well let's just say I've heard the stories from before I came here." Harry was about to say something when he heard someone call his name from behind. He looked around and saw that it was Ron and Hermione.  
  
"Hey guys……" Harry started but he stopped short noticing the looks on their faces.  
  
"Don't hey guys us! We have to talk to you right now." Ron said.  
  
"Umm okay then, let's talk." Harry said confusedly.  
  
They started walking towards the doors of the great hall where there were still swarms of students coming down for breakfast.  
  
"So….what's up?" Harry said wanting to know what was wrong.  
  
"So we're not good enough for you." Was the only thing Ron said.  
  
Hermione, who was much calmer, said "What he means is, we were you friends before Tim, and now all of a sudden you're hanging out with him and talking to him and everything that we used to do."  
  
Harry was shocked, he had never expected this. "What do you mean? Are you saying that I can't talk to him? I happened to get up after him today; I was waiting for the two of you to come downstairs today but I was hungry and Tim just happened to be going down to the great hall."  
  
He noticed that Hermione's look softened but just as she was about to say something Ron interrupted. "Yeah right! I guess that you just so happened to go up to the boys' dormitory right before Tim did!"  
  
"What are you talking about!?! I was up there and no one came up there. If he did come up to the dorm then it was after I fell asleep!" Harry said feeling the anger building inside of him.  
  
"Yeah sure, you're just saying that because you're the famous Harry Potter and whatever you say goes!" Ron said infuriated.  
  
Some people were starting to stare but that didn't stop Ron, he only stopped when he was elbowed by Hermione. Hermione gave Harry an apologetic look and guided Ron into the great hall, who refused to sit anywhere near Harry or Tim.  
  
Tim looked at Harry with a bewildered expression on his face, but before Tim could say anything, Harry said, "I'll explain later." Tim nodded and turned back to his breakfast. Harry was looking to see where Ron was sitting, and spotted him at the other end of the table arguing with Hermione. Harry felt like Hermione was trying to help Harry by talking to Ron. Harry was brought from his thoughts when he was being tapped on his shoulder; he looked up and saw that it was Tim. "Are you ready to go? Tryouts should be starting soon." Harry didn't say anything, just nodded, and without looking at Ron, the two of them left for the pitch.  
  
When they got out there, Harry was surprised to see that no one was there, the former team members at least. He half expected them to show up unexpectedly just as they had done yesterday. Harry and Tim just sat back and waited for the few Gryffindors that were going to try out for the team. In less than 15 minutes, everyone had taken seats in the stands awaiting instructions. Harry realized that the candidates were much better on the previous day. Harry looked over at Tim which by the expression he wore on his face, felt the same way.  
  
  
  
Tryouts were over almost as soon as they started and Harry and Tim once again made their way back up to the castle in silence until Tim asked "So what was up with Ron this morning? Harry looked at Tim, unsure of what he should say. "Well Tim, he thinks that I'm not his friend anymore because I haven't been waiting for him when I come down for breakfast and he thinks that because I came upstairs right before you did, which I have no idea what that is about." Tim looked at the ground and then started to speak. "Well Harry I did come upstairs a few minutes after you did. I called your name but you didn't answer me so I figured that you were either sleeping or you just wanted to be alone." Harry thought about this for a moment, realizing how he was acting the previous night.  
  
They reached the castle, and this time Tim was the one that took the sheets up to the Gryffindor tower. Harry went to the great hall and noticed Ron right away with the flaming red hair. He was sitting with Hermione and seemed to be much calmer than he was earlier. When Ron looked over to where Harry was standing, a look of guilt spread over his face. Harry just sat down, a few seats away from Ron. "If he wants to act the way he did this morning, then let him. If he wants to apologize then he can come over here himself." Harry thought to himself.  
  
Harry looked up and saw that Ron was coming over; Harry was already trying not to get angry.  
  
"Harry, look I'm sorry about this morning. I was just a bit jealous this morning." Ron said guiltily  
  
Harry looked up, "A bit jealous Ron? Do you think that was a bit jealous? I told you the truth and you still refused to believe me! Did it ever occur to you that I might have wanted to be alone last night? Why do you think that's why I didn't know what you were talking about when Tim came into the room?"  
  
Ron looked at his hands which were in his lap. Harry knew that Ron was trying to apologize, but he wanted to hear more from him, more of an explanation.  
  
"Look Harry, I know that I may get jealous of you sometimes, well a lot actually, but its just that you've always been there for me. To tell you the truth, you are probably the bestest friend that I have ever had." Ron said truthfully.  
  
"What do you mean probably?" As soon as Harry saw the look on Ron's face, Harry couldn't control the grin spreading across his face. "I understand Ron, but I mean you get so mad at me and sometimes I never know what I did wrong."  
  
Ron didn't say anything for awhile, but Harry understood. "C'mon, lets eat" Harry said who's mouth was starting to water at the sight of the food appearing before them.  
  
  
  
Dinner couldn't have been more enjoyable, Ron wasn't mad at Harry anymore and he could talk to Tim without getting dirty looks. Things couldn't have been better, but of course that would all change, though not right away.  
  
The four of them, sleepily made their way back up to the tower. When they finally got to their dormitories, they were exhausted. Harry barely changed into his pajamas before collapsing on his bed; he was asleep before his head hit the pillow.  
  
  
  
The week went by just as usual, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Tryouts had been excellent; the outcome for reserve positions was much higher than either Harry or Tim thought. Harry was glad to see that Ron tried out to become reserve keeper. There were also a number of people which tried out to become a reserve seeker.  
  
Finally Friday had come, the day that most Gryffindor students were waiting for.  
  
When Harry walked into the common room after dinner, he noticed that almost everyone was crammed in there awaiting the news.  
  
"Well as you all know, today is the day that we will announce who will be on the Gryffindor team." Harry looked around at everyone, noticing how everyone was hanging on to his every word, he then continued. "Before I announce who will be on the team, I would like to congratulate every one of you. The decisions which we had to make were extremely difficult since all of you were spectacular at tryouts. Now the position of beater will be played by Kenneth and Hermione!" The Gryffindor common room exploded with applause and cheers. Hermione had tears in her eyes." After a brief pause, Harry continued, "Now for the chasers, Heather, Allison, and Dean!" Everyone cheered, so Harry once again took a brief pause. "Now for the reserve positions; for keeper, Ron Weasley, and for seeker, Josh! Congratulation to everyone! Practice will begin one week from today!" No one seemed to hear what Harry had just said because they were busy cheering on the new members of the team.  
  
They spent the rest of the night welcoming the new team members, Tim thought it would be funny to pull pranks on them, but considering that there were only two team members from the previous year it wouldn't quite work.  
  
Harry noticed that Ron was sitting alone by the fire. "Hey Ron!" Harry said as he walked over to him.  
  
Ron looked up at Harry from the fire, "Oh hi Harry."  
  
Harry had the feeling that something was wrong, "Ron? Are you feeling okay? Is anything wrong?"  
  
Suddenly a smile spread over Ron's face, "No Harry! Nothing is wrong; it's just that, I never expected making the team, even if it only is a reserve."  
  
Harry looked behind him at everyone having a good time. "Are you upset because you are a reserve?"  
  
"Not at all! I mean I just keep thinking that if that hadn't happened last year, then I would be the one helping you choose the new team members. You know how much I wanted to be keeper. I remember how we would always talk about being on the house team together and lifting the cup after we beat Slytherin into the ground, but, now that I think abut it, that will never happen."  
  
Harry wasn't sure of what he should say; he just looked at his feet. "Don't worry Ron; you'll have your chance someday."  
  
"Thanks, but I mean people are always getting chances! Why can't I get a brake once in awhile?" Ron said sounding both hurt and disappointed.  
  
"Hey look, don't think about how you're not starting keeper, just think that if Tim ever gets hurt or can't play, you will always be there. I know that you will come through for the team; trust me, if I had to choose between you or Tim to be Keeper, I would definitely choose you. I know about all the times that we talked about lifting the cup to the sound of everyone cheering for the team, and for us. Don't worry; we will be able to do that someday. Now c'mon, let's go have fun!"  
  
Ron smiled up at Harry, he was thankful for such a good friend, who stuck by him no matter how mad or jealous he got at Harry.  
  
They were having fun, joking around and boasting about how they were going to beat Slytherin once again, when the portrait opened; it was Professor McGonagall.  
  
"It is 1 in the morning! Yes I too am excited that we have a full Quidditch team, but you are making such a racket that I am surprised the whole castle hasn't been awoken yet!"  
  
Everyone headed to the different staircases leading up to their dormitories; everyone was grumbling on their way up.  
  
The weeks passed on and before anyone had realized it, it was the day before their first Hogsmeade visit. Harry was sitting at his usual seat in the great hall, when he heard the familiar sound of the hundreds of owl's swooping in to find their owners. Harry immediately spotted Hedwig just as she was swooping down with a letter clutched tightly in her beak. She landed right in front of Harry and out of habit, Hermione and Ron moved closer. Harry took the letter from Hedwig and she then helped herself to some of Harry's bacon. It read:  
  
  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
How have you been? Well I know that you haven't heard from me in quite some time, but I had some things to take care of. Well Dumbledore immediately notified me about that night at the Welcoming Feast. You have to look out for yourself Harry, I don't know how that happened, but it must not be good. Be cautious of everything that is going on around you. Be safe!  
  
  
  
Love,  
  
Sirius  
  
  
  
PS I should be able to make it to your first Quidditch match, from what I hear you have quite a team!  
  
  
  
  
  
Harry just noticed that his friends were looking at him and waiting for his reaction. "I wonder what he had to do." Harry said with an empty look on his face.  
  
  
  
  
  
Quidditch practice was going great, and their first match would be in a few weeks. Harry decided to cancel practice on Saturday since it was Halloween and the first visit to Hogsmeade. Even though Harry had been there many times, there was still that excitement that it gave off. It could have been the fact that it was the only entire wizarding community that Harry has ever been too, or maybe it was something else, just spending the day out enjoying the cool autumn weather laughing and joking with his friends.  
  
  
  
For some reason, when Harry went to the sleep the previous night of Halloween, he felt some kind of excitement; good or bad, he was not sure.  
  
Harry had a dreamless sleep which he had learned to appreciate. When he woke up he was surprised to see that it was light out, since for the past few days he had been waking up extra early.  
  
Harry got up and dressed for the day. As he walked down to the common room he was wondering what he was going to get today. He was just thinking that he should probably get some candy since his and Ron's stock were running low and some more pranks and jokes from Zonkos Joke Shop, when he ran into someone on the stairs. "Oh I'm sorry!" Harry said suddenly looking to see who he had run into. "No it's not your fault, I wasn't looking where I was going; I didn't know that you were coming downstairs." Kenny said. "Are you going to Hogsmeade today?" Harry asked remembering how nice he had been a few weeks ago. "Well I was going to but I'm not so sure now." Kenny said looking down. "Well, why is that? Aren't you going with your friends?" Harry said anxiously. "Well….." Kenny began, "Some of them are in the library studying or working on some sort of project, and for some reason they aren't talking to me. I think it may have something to do with y….." Kenny suddenly stopped, realizing about what he was about to say. "So then would you like to come with me and some of my friends then?" Harry asked with a kind smile on his face. "Well I don't know….but sure, I could use some time away." Kenny said, making Harry completely clueless. "So then let's get going!" Harry said starting down the stairs again.  
  
Harry and Kenny met up with Ron, Hermione, and Tim in the common room. They were all a little shocked to see that Harry was talking with Kenny.  
  
"Hey guys!" Harry said looking up. "Do you mind if Kenny comes with us?" Harry saw the look that Ron was getting on his face, and immediately said, "Ron, don't worry I have something to tell you later." Ron just gave Harry a curious look but nodded as if he knew what Harry was talking about because Kenny was now looking at Harry and Ron with a weird look on his face. The 5 of them headed down to the front gates where Filch was checking and double checking everyone that passes through, making sure no one was trying to sneak out.  
  
They made their way through the gates, receiving the usual penetrating look, as if he knew about the invisibility cloak. The 5 of them walked through the town of Hogsmeade having a wonderful time. They all got to know Kenny, and he was much nicer than he looked. He wasn't snobby like most people could be, but he was funny and had a great sense of humor. They made their way in and out of shops quickly because they were all overcrowded of people getting last minute candies and treats for Halloween. Hermione then suggested, "Why don't we all go and get some butterbeer? I'm sure that it won't be as crowded as some of these shops since it is such a nice day out." Everyone agreed and they made their way up the road to the Three Broomsticks, though they never made it all the way.  
  
As they were weaving their way in and out of the passing witches and wizards, Harry noticed something that stood out against the crowd. Harry decided to ignore it, he just thought it was a wizard with a hooded cloak wrapped around him concealing his face. Just as they were passing the mysterious person, something made Harry turn his head. When he looked, his scar seared with pain; but somehow he knew that it wasn't Voldemort. The pain was so great that he started to scream out in pain, which attracted many curious looks from the people on the nearby streets.  
  
Harry fell to his knees in agony, Hermione, Ron, Tim and Ken rushed to his side and helped him up. They walked him back to the castle and went as fast as possible up to Dumbledore's office. When they got there, he was not in his office. So the 5 of them left and went to the great hall where lunch should be being served right now. This was taking much longer than expected since Harry kept stumbling along the way.  
  
They almost reached the great hall when they ran into none other than Professor Snape. "What happened to Potter?" He asked with a surprise tone of concern in his voice which he quickly hid.  
  
"We were heading towards the Three Broomsticks for some butterbeer when Harry started to scream, when we turned we saw him on the ground clutching his scar. People were starting to gather but we got him out of there." Kenny said, which surprised Snape. Nobody said anything as Snape just glared at Kenny; almost in the same way he would look at Harry. Finally after a few moments of silence, Hermione spoke up. "Er Professor? Do you know where Professor Dumbledore is?" Snape looked as though he was in a trance because he suddenly shook his head and had some sort of confused look on his face. Almost as soon as this was said, they heard the familiar, voice of Dumbledore. "Did I hear someone call my name? Dumbledore said this somewhat cheerfully and with a smile on his face, but as soon as he saw Harry holding his head, he knew that something was wrong. "Why don't we go to my office? Harry, can you walk?" Harry looked up, and it took him a moment to nod his head; simply moving his head caused him great pain.  
  
They walked until they got to Dumbledore's office; the whole way there Harry had to be helped since he could barely walk. Harry, who was starting to feel the pain subside, noticed that everyone kept on looking at him cautiously, as if he was going to collapse at any given moment.  
  
"Harry, now can you tell us what happened?" Dumbledore said with an encouraging smile on his face.  
  
Harry nodded and began to tell his story of what happened. "And the last thing I knew, I was on the ground with people starring at me while I was holding my scar. But, somehow I knew that it wasn't Voldemort." When he finished his explanation with Voldemort's name, Hermione, Ron, and Tim were the only ones that flinched, Kenny remained perfectly still as if "Voldemort" was just another everyday word.  
  
Dumbledore was thinking deeply, and Harry seemed to be the only one that noticed this. Dumbledore looked at Harry, deep into his eyes, with that searching look that Filch was giving everyone earlier that day, except it wasn't creepy, it seemed kind and gentle and full of understanding and hope; hope that someday Harry wouldn't have to go through all that he went through. "Is all that you can remember?" Dumbledore asked still giving him that searching look.  
  
Harry nodded and realized that his scar wasn't hurting as much as it had a few moments ago.  
  
"So then if you don't have any questions, I think you should go to the hospital wing and have Madam Pomfrey check you over, I don't think she'll be to surprised to see you." He said with a wink.  
  
Harry was just about to stand up, when he had a question. "Er….Professor?"  
  
"Yes Harry?"  
  
"Well how is it that, whoever it was in Hogsmeade was able to make my scar hurt? I know it wasn't Voldemort, so it was probably one of his deatheaters, but how can they make my scar hurt like that?"  
  
"Well Harry, it is my understanding, that when you become a deatheater, part of Voldemort is inside of you. So, the closer that specific deatheater is to Voldemort, the more pain he would be able to cause you to feel within your scar.  
  
Harry was somehow able to understand this, even though his friends seemed completely lost.  
  
"Well if that is all Harry, I trust you can find your way to the hospital wing."  
  
"Do I have to go to the hospital wing? My head feels fine! Honest!"  
  
"Well I think that you would know what and how your body is feeling, so I shall leave this up to you."  
  
"I think that I will go back to the common room and get ready for the feast."  
  
"Ah yes, the Halloween feast! With all this going on, I almost forgot about it. Well you can all run along, I have some business to attend to with Professor Snape."  
  
They stood up and left in the direction of their common room. Though they were silent the whole way back, they seemed to be thinking that same thing "Who was that person in Hogsmeade?"  
  
When Harry got to the common room, he noticed that it was still fairly empty except for the students who had stayed behind.  
  
"I guess no one is back yet." Ron said.  
  
Harry looked at him and then said "I don't care about that, I just want to know if anyone found out about my scar."  
  
No one said anything after this; part of it could have been that Josh, Heather, and Melissa had just walked through the portrait hole. They were talking excitedly, but stopped abruptly when they saw that Kenny was standing with Harry. Their expressions seemed to go from happiness to anger in a matter of seconds. Instead of saying anything to them, they just went up to their dorms. Harry heard the distant sound of doors slamming.  
  
Harry looked at Kenny, "What was that all about?"  
  
Kenny looked as though he had just been hit in the stomach, "Is it okay if I explain later, when I have a better idea of how to tell you?"  
  
"Sure, I just want to know, so you can take your time."  
  
Harry soon saw that people were slowly returning from Hogsmeade; he was relieved that not one of them asked him about his scar.  
  
"So I guess no one knows!" Harry said with a sigh of relief.  
  
"Yeah, well there's always Malfoy; we'll be seeing him soon." Tim said.  
  
Soon the five of them headed down to the great hall. On the way they met up with Allison, and much to Harry's surprise, she didn't seem to have a problem with him. Justas Tim had said, they would be seeing Malfoy soon, and soon enough they ran into him and his thuggish cronies while heading down the stairs.  
  
"Well isn't Potter and his little fan club; not to mention the mudblood and Weasel, since they aren't worth the attention." Malfoy said with a taunting grin on his face.  
  
"Shove off Malfoy. Why don't you and your bodyguards go somewhere else?" Ron said.  
  
"Well I would Weasel, but I heard a bit of information of what happened in Hogsmeade a few short hours ago." Malfoy said looking at Ron with disgust. He then continued by saying, "So Potter, I heard that you had a little scare in Hogsmeade, I'm surprised you didn't faint. You know, that little act of yours is getting a little old, screaming and fainting every time your scar hurts."  
  
Malfoy was stopped short, but to everyone's surprise it was Snape. "Mr. Malfoy, get where you belong. I believe the feast should be starting momentarily."  
  
Everyone just stood there, shocked that Snape wasn't saying anything to Harry or his friends. "Well Mr. Malfoy, if you o not go right now I will give you detention."  
  
Malfoy and his cronies, still stood there, they only moved when Snape said, "Well if you choose not to move then, 10 points from Slytherin, and if you do not move now it will be 20!"  
  
With that Malfoy left, with Crabbe and Goyle at his heels. "Good day Mr. Potter, Ron, Hermione, Tim, Kenneth." Snape then turned on his heel with his cloak billowing behind him.  
  
"W-What just happened? Was he actually nice to us, and most of all did he just take points from his own house?" Harry said flabbergasted.  
  
"I-I think he just did do that, something weird is definitely going on here." Ron said glued to his spot.  
  
"C'mon I think the feast should be starting in a few minutes." Harry said still transfixed to the spot where Snape was just standing.  
  
They had a most enjoyable time at the feast that night, it even made Harry forget about the day's previous events. They laughed and joked and ate as much as their plates could hold. It wasn't until Dumbledore stood up when that the days events came flooding back to Harry.  
  
"Happy Halloween everyone! Now I trust that you all have eaten 'till your hearts content! Well this has been a most enjoyable night for me and all of you as well from what I can tell. To be truthful, I believe we all needed a night of celebration. Well now off to bed, be glad that you have no lessons tomorrow for it is Sunday, a day when you can rest. Good night!"  
  
At the end of his speech there was the sound of benches scraping the floor and everyone walking towards the doors. Everyone walked off in their own directions, barely able to keep their eyes open.  
  
At the head table, Dumbledore and McGonagall were having a little conversation.  
  
"You do think he'll be alright, don't you Albus?"  
  
"Yes, Minerva, I believe he will make it through whatever is thrown at him; he always does." Dumbledore said this ending with a smile.  
  
Harry was glad when they finally reached the common room, for he felt as if he was about to fall asleep right on the spot. Harry was one of the last ones heading up to the boys' dormitory, when Kenny called him from behind. "Hey Harry, can you come here for a minute?" Harry looked at Ron who nodded, and Harry headed back towards where Kenny was standing half wishing he could be in his bed at the moment.  
  
"What's up?" Harry asked trying to stifle a yawn.  
  
"Well Harry I know that you would rather be getting into your bed because I can tell that you are very tired, but I figured that you would want to know what everyone's problem is."  
  
Harry suddenly felt wide awake, "Oh okay, you can tell me, after all tomorrow is Sunday and I can sleep in without worrying about missing any lessons."  
  
"Okay well, first of all, none of my friends hate you, it's just well, they think you get to much credit for everything that you've done. I mean, yeah they like being in the same house as you because, well you're Harry Potter. Well I think I should explain a little about ourselves before I go further into why they aren't to happy with me being around you. Well at…. when we were at our other school we were always the brightest students in the school. We were always inventing spells, while at the same time having a good time. We were on the Quidditch team for our house and we really loved being there. Just the school alone was wonderful; even though I think your school is equally marvelous, but there was just something about our school that we could call it home. Well that night when we were attacked, we knew that it was because Voldemort was desperate to regain power and quickly. We heard about how you had that dream at the end of the year and how you were killed but came back to life and how you took back your blood; we are still trying to figure out how you done it, well anyways, we got a little angry, so naturally we fought back. We stopped the deatheaters from attacking us; we blocked them off pretty good and made a few of them unconscious. We were really angry with them for attacking our school, our home. Afterwards we had a talk, about what happened and why he did it. Some of us came up with the conclusion that he just wanted more power, but that was only two of us; Allison and me. The rest all thought that it was because of you, they figured that if you just died then none of that would have happened, even though they did know that if Voldemort had succeeded, we would all be dead anyways. Now that I think about it, I don't think they were really mad at you in the first place, I think they just wanted someone to blame for the attacks since a lot of our friends were killed plus the staff. I know this makes no sense what so ever, but that was the only way of me being able to explain it at the moment, I think I will be able to better explain it when I can really go through my thoughts."  
  
Harry didn't know what to say at first, then he said more to himself then to Kenny, "So what you're saying is that your friends are only angry at me because they wanted someone to put the blame on, and of how they think if I had just died on that night last year that none of this never would have happened?  
  
"Well its something like that, you see they really are grateful for all the times you defeated Voldemort, but sometimes they just forget that you never intended for it to happen, for you to even live."  
  
Harry was beginning to yawn again, so he said "Okay I think that I have most of it, but should I be angry with them for thinking that I should have just died?"  
  
"Well that is up to you Harry, well I see that you are very tired so I will let you go to bed, I think that I'm going to stay here for a little bit."  
  
"Okay good night, thanks for clearing things up for me."  
  
"Yeah anytime, night."  
  
Harry then headed upstairs realizing that he was even more tired then he was when he first walked up these stairs. When he reached the dormitory, he barely changed into his pajamas and crawled into bed without falling asleep. He had a few dreams here and there, but nothing life threatening like his many other dreams.  
  
The weeks went on and on and nothing out of the ordinary happened unless the way Snape was treating the Gryffindor's, especially Harry.  
  
"I wonder why he's treating us so…well there's no other way to put it, but nice." Ron said with an odd expression on his face.  
  
"Well." Harry began. "It almost seems like he's not trying to treat us this nice, but for some reason he can't help it. I think it might have to do with whatever Dumbledore spoke to him about a few months ago."  
  
"Yeah I guess that seems like a good reason, but why would he treat us nice, he doesn't even like us!" Ron said almost demanding that Harry told him what all this was about.  
  
"Ron, you're acting like I actually know why he's acting like this!" Harry said chuckling.  
  
Ron was about to say what he thought, when they heard someone talking to them from behind. Harry looked up and saw that it was Professor Snape.  
  
"Don't worry Harry; I'm not going to give you detention for saying those things, or you Ron. I would tell you what is going on, but I really can't. Well good day Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley." Snape said while turning his back to leave.  
  
Harry and Ron were both gaping, "What just happened? This is definitely going to be a weird year." Harry said slightly confused.  
  
  
  
Quidditch practices were going great; they were performing their old routines without a flaw, they were ready for their first match most definitely.  
  
"Well team, I think that we are definitely going to crush Ravenclaw at our first match 1 week from today. Since all of our moves are flawless, we have to work on keeping them that way. Now let's go practice!" Harry said glad to see that he had such a good team.  
  
The team practiced for what seemed like hours when they heard a shout coming from the ground.  
  
"Your time on this field is over; it is our turn to practice." Cho, the new Ravenclaw captain said sweetly and smiling as Harry flew down to her side.  
  
"It's been 3 hours already?" Harry asked surprised at how fast their time was up.  
  
"Yeah it's been 3 hours. I was watching you and your team seems to be doing pretty well, and of course they can't do well without a great captain leading them." Cho said while turning a slight shade of pink.  
  
By now the rest of the team was landing on the ground next to Harry asking what the problem was.  
  
"No, there's no problem, it's just that our time is up; we've been out here for 3 hours already." Harry said with a dreamy expression on his face which no one else seemed to notice.  
  
They all looked at Cho then at Harry, then Tim said, "Okay Harry I guess we can leave, I'm feeling a little tired anyways."  
  
Everyone agreed with Tim because once they realized they were practicing for nearly 3 hours straight, everyone seemed to be exhausted.  
  
In no time at all it was the morning of the first Quidditch match of the season; Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. The Gryffindor team was up earlier than usual, but none of them were nervous about the match which would be starting in a hour or so.  
  
The team made their way down to the great hall for breakfast. They were there relatively early, but they didn't mind the extra time to talk out their strategies. Soon enough the rest of the school began to slowly enter the great hall and sit at their house tables.  
  
"Well team, I think it's time for us to head out so we can get a look at our conditions for the game." Harry said standing up.  
  
Everyone agreed with Harry and stood up as well. They left the great hall followed by applause from the Gryffindor house, which most of the students were already down there anxiously awaiting the upcoming match.  
  
When the team stepped onto the pitch, Harry spoke up. "It seems like we should have a fairly good game, the ground is hard so it will give us a good start. It looks like it might rain though; there are some pretty dark clouds off to the south."  
  
The team all agreed and they knew if they wanted to win before the storm hit they would have to act fast.  
  
In a matter of minutes the school had already come out to take their seats in the stands. The Gryffindor team followed Harry into the locker room to change into their scarlet Quidditch robes. Harry, like always, slipped his wand inside his robe; you never knew what was going to happen these days.  
  
"Well team, I already told you how well we have been practicing, so the only thing left to say is Let's get out there and win!" Harry said with loud excitement.  
  
The whole team started to cheer and they walked out onto the pitch were the Gryffindor students were cheering loudly; boo's from the Ravenclaw end were quite noticeable as well.  
  
Before the captain's shook hands, Professor McGonagall made an announcement. "Before the match begins, I have an announcement to make. Since no one has yet claimed the position to be the new announcer at the Quidditch matches, I am proud to announce who will be commentating the games. Mr. Oliver Wood!" The rest of what she said was drowned out by the cheers of most of the school; Oliver was a well know and liked person, even if he was in Gryffindor, many Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs liked him and his incredible personality.  
  
"Captains, shake hands!" Oliver announced.  
  
Harry and Cho shook hands and at the sound of the whistle 15 brooms rose rapidly into the air.  
  
"Looks like the Gryffindor team is trying to take an early start, and wait a minute…they do! Gryffindor scores with a beautiful pass to Allison from Dean. Now things seem to be slowing down; just a lot of passing from player to player, team to team."  
  
Harry was slowly rising higher, trying not to attract any attention to himself as he looked for the snitch. Harry also kept an eye on Cho, if Harry thought she had spotted the snitch then he would have to follow her most definitely. There was no sign of the snitch and now Gryffindor was in the lead 60-20; the rain was starting to come down and Harry could have sworn he saw lighting off in the distance; he just hoped that the game would be over before the storm became worse.  
  
After awhile Harry started to get board and he remembered how Sirius said that he should be there; so Harry began searching the stands while at the same time watching out for the snitch. He spotted Sirius sitting somewhere near Dumbledore; it seemed as though Sirius was concentrating on something by the Gryffindor goal posts. Harry looked sharply in that direction, half expecting to see the snitch, but he suddenly saw what Sirius was looking at.  
  
Harry looked around once more to make sure the snitch was showing no sign of itself when he sped off towards Tim, trying to push him out of the way. But Harry was to late; he didn't even have the time to call for Tim to move. Someone on the Ravenclaw team had hit a bludger right towards Tim and it hit him right in the face. Harry felt as if he was watching all of this in slow motion; Tim being hit, falling off his broom and falling to the ground only to land with a loud thud. Harry soon noticed that things were going back in normal pace and he saw that Cho was flying quickly towards him; Harry looked around and saw that the snitch was off in the distance. Harry sped off and he and Cho were fighting neck at neck trying to reach it first. When Harry's fingers closed around the snitch, he didn't feel happy or excited, he just felt numb because he couldn't do anything to help Tim right now who lay motionless on the hard ground.  
  
Right after Harry caught the snitch; things seemed to be going at normal speed once more. Harry flew off in the direction of the Gryffindor goal posts where there was now a large group of people; no one seemed to notice that the game was over but that didn't matter to Harry.  
  
When Harry reached the ground he made his way through the group of people which consisted mostly of teachers and a number of students from the Gryffindor house. Harry noticed that the Ravenclaw team seemed pretty upset by all of this; they never did it on purpose, they didn't even know how this had happened.  
  
When Harry finally reached the center of the circle, he saw Tim, lying motionless on the ground; his head in a puddle of blood. Tim's head was bleeding freely, and Madam Pomfrey just reached him. She magically wrapped his head in bandages, only until she would reach the castle, and she put him on a stretcher which she led with her wand.  
  
The whole school followed the stretcher silently except for a few students which were talking amongst themselves. Harry heard a few people saying, "I wonder why the Ravenclaw team would do that." And "How did that happen?" These were the main questions that Harry heard. He saw that the Gryffindor team was right behind the stretcher, right up there with the teachers. Harry ran up to them, to see if they knew anything. They only knew as much as Harry did, that he was unconscious and badly injured.  
  
Madam Pomfrey banded any visitors from the hospital wing until Tim's condition improved, or when she knew if he would live or not.  
  
  
  
Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into a month before they were finally allowed to visit Tim. Even though no one knew whether he was going to live haunted the team, especially the Ravenclaw team, everyone still visited him hoping he would wake up at any moment.  
  
Harry and the rest of the team would sit by his bed day and night, waiting for something, anything, even the slightest movement to show that he was coming around; but it never came.  
  
"You know the next Quidditch match is around the corner, a month to be exact, I think we should start breaking in the reserve just in case," Kenny said quietly.  
  
"Yeah I think we mine as well, it doesn't look like he will be able to play anyways. Even if he does wake up, he will never be up ready. I doubt he will even be allowed to play." Harry said these last few words looking at Madam Pomfrey, who for the last month, kept going on and on about how dangerous a game like Quidditch really was.  
  
A few moments after Harry said this, Ron walked into the hospital wing without a sound. "Hi." He said quietly.  
  
"Ron, do you think you will be ready in time to play our next match? It will be against Slytherin right after the holidays." Harry said looking at Ron.  
  
"Yeah I can do it." Ron was happy about being able to start in a real Quidditch match, but for some reason he felt guilty about what had happened to Tim a little over a month ago.  
  
Harry, who was sensing what Ron was thinking, said, "Look Ron, it is not your fault! You had nothing to do with what happened to Tim! You have absolutely no reason to feel guilty."  
  
I know, but it's weird. I mean I was saying how I would have liked to be starting keeper, and now it's finally happening. I know that I shouldn't feel guilty because I had nothing to do with this, but somehow, I feel like it was my fault."  
  
"Ron we know that it wasn't you fault! We would never blame you for something like this!" Allison said sweetly.  
  
Ron was silent, but everyone understood. He then took a seat with everyone else by Tim's bed.  
  
It was now the middle of December, and even though a few days passed since they had that conversation, Tim had still shown no sign of conciseness. Harry wrote to his godfather asking if he could bring Ron and Hermione along for the holidays. Sirius said yes without a doubt. Harry went to Ron and Hermione to tell them the good news when he remembered that he never actually asked them. So Harry walked up to them and said "I know that I should've asked you before I wrote to Sirius, but would the both of you like to spend the holidays with me at his house?"  
  
Ron and Hermione looked at each other and then Ron said, "I'm sorry Harry, but I was going to stay here with the team. They said they could give me a few pointers on how to beat Slytherin."  
  
Before Harry could say anything, Hermione said, "I was going to stay here as well, I..er…need the library for a project that I am doing. I was also going to try out a few strategies with the rest of the team."  
  
Harry thought about this for a moment, thinking it was a little odd, but then said "It's okay, maybe I can actually find out who Sirius bought the house from since he won't tell me I am going to have to look through all those books."  
  
The three of them laughed at the thought of Harry looking through books. "Harry, why is it that when you have schoolwork, you rarely ever touch a book, but when you want to find out something that Sirius will not tell you, you decided to read? Hermione said sarcastically.  
  
Harry then said "Well I'd better get packing if I don't want to miss the train back."  
  
Harry headed up the stairs to the common room where he started to pack. It took him almost an hour to pack, but he was done nevertheless. Harry was just a little surprised that Ron or no one else had come up to see how he was doing, but he let this slip from his mind as he realized that the train would be arriving shortly.  
  
Harry walked down to the common room and saw that no one was there. "They must be in the great hall." Harry thought to himself.  
  
Harry made his way to the great hall and he saw Ron and Hermione talking quietly to one another so that no one else would be able to hear. He walked over to them silently, hoping to catch a bit of their conversation when Ron looked up and saw Harry walking towards them.  
  
"Hi Harry! Are you leaving now?" Hermione asked smiling slightly.  
  
"Yeah I'm about to head out for the train now. It's going to be weird, having a place to go for the holidays I mean."  
  
"Yeah and it's going to be weird having you somewhere else other than here!" Ron said laughing a little.  
  
Harry looked from Ron to Hermione and hen back to Ron, "They are definitely not telling me something." Harry thought to himself.  
  
Harry made his way out to the train with Ron and Hermione who insisted on seeing him off. He got on the train and found an empty compartment near the end. He sat by the window and saw Ron and Hermione waving to him. Harry smiled and waved back; half wishing they were coming with him. He then figured that it would be nice to spend some time with Sirius.  
  
The scarlet train started to move, picking up speed rapidly every second. He watched Ron and Hermione waving to him as they got smaller and smaller. Before the train turned the corner, he noticed that Ron and Hermione were now holding hands. "I guess they'll tell me soon enough." Harry said aloud.  
  
Just then the compartment door opened. Harry half expected it to be Malfoy, but he was glad that he was wrong. It was Cho, and Harry noticed that she had a sad expression plastered on her face.  
  
"Hi Harry." Cho said quietly. "May I join you?"  
  
"Sure." Harry said wondering what was bothering her.  
  
"So how is he?"  
  
"Oh, Tim. He's uh not doing that well. He still hasn't shown any sign of recovering. There is still the possibility that he may die."  
  
"Look Harry I'm really sorry, I don't know how that even happened!" Cho said breaking down into hysterics.  
  
"Cho! It's okay! It wasn't your fault! But…do you know if anyone on your team caused that to happen?"  
  
"No Harry, no one on my team would dare do that! Yeah we would like to have won, but we would never do anything that….that….drastic!"  
  
"I was never accusing your team of doing that, but I mean it is my team and I would like some answers on why that happened!"  
  
"Look Harry, I understand why you would be angry and that you would want answers! But please….please believe that I had no idea that this would happen! I would never do anything or allow my team to do anything like that to hurt your team!" Tears were now starting to well up in her eyes.  
  
"Cho I never thought that you were behind this! I know that you would never allow your team to do this! All I want to find out is how this happened!" Harry said quietly while wiping away one of Cho's tears.  
  
Cho just smiled at Harry; the thing she liked most about him was that he was so kind. "Why does he always have to go through so much pain and hardship?" She thought to herself.  
  
Cho, who was sitting across from Harry, got up and sat in the seat next to Harry. She still seemed to feel terrible for what happened at the game. She put her head on Harry's shoulder, and started to doze off. Cho and Harry remained like that for the rest of the ride to Kingscross station.  
  
Harry never realized that he had fallen asleep until Cho woke him up by prodding him in his side.  
  
"What did you do that for?" Harry asked groggily.  
  
"Well Harry it's time for us to go, we're at the station."  
  
"Oh."  
  
So Harry and Cho made their way to the compartment door; but before Harry opened, Cho blocked his way.  
  
"Harry I have something to tell you….." Cho said trailing off.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Well it's just that….well I like you Harry, I really do."  
  
Harry noticed that as Cho said this, she was turning a slight shade of red.  
  
"I like you too Cho….." Harry said with a smile coming to his face.  
  
"He has the most spectacular smile." Cho thought to herself.  
  
"Well bye then Harry, I'll see you after the holidays." Cho said as she did what Harry least expected; kissed him.  
  
Harry just stood there for a few moments, trying to process what had just happened. He then decided that he should get going; he didn't want to keep Sirius waiting.  
  
When Harry stepped through that platform, he saw Sirius. He was looking all over with a look of concern on his face.  
  
"Uh oh…..he thinks something happened to me…." Harry thought to himself as he walked over to his godfather.  
  
"Sirius, hi!" Harry said when he was in front of his godfather,  
  
"Where have you been? After everyone got off the train, you weren't with them. I thought something happened to you!"  
  
"Umm Sirius is something wrong? I didn't come out that much after everyone else."  
  
"I'm sorry Harry. So much has been going on; so much that I can tell you have no idea what I am talking about. Well don't worry I'll tell you everything at home."  
  
Sirius then helped Harry with his trunk, and they walked to a car that was once again borrowed from the ministry.  
  
Harry, who was once again smiling, was receiving a few curious glances from his godfather."  
  
"You seem extremely happy. I take it you had a good train ride?"  
  
"As a matter of fact I did!"  
  
"Well….aren't you going to tell me what happened?"  
  
Well, if you can guess then I'll tell you!"  
  
"Hmmm…..I know that look extremely well. It was the same look that your father had whenever he was around Lily. So, my guess is that you have a little crush on someone!" Sirius said while trying to hold back his laughter.  
  
"Shuddup! Well then if you're going to act like that then I guess that I wont tell you unless you guess correctly!"  
  
Sirius tried to give his godson an evil look, but he just couldn't; he just started to laugh uncontrollably.  
  
The ride home was quite enjoyable indeed. Harry enjoyed seeing Sirius trying to guess what had happened on the train. It wasn't that big of a deal actually, but Harry thought it was extremely funny seeing his godfather making crazier and wackier guesses as time went on.  
  
Harry was glad when they pulled into view of the house; that is until he something that made him feel quite uneasy.  
  
Harry looked at Sirius, who saw it as well. The front doors were wide open and windows were smashed; there were also a few small fires across the land.  
  
Sirius stopped the car at the bottom of the hill. "Stay here Harry, I'm serious."  
  
The way Sirius looked at Harry almost scared him, so Harry decided that for once, he would actually listen to his godfather.  
  
Sirius ran silently up to the house and peered through one of the smashed windows. Sirius didn't even have to go inside, from what he had just witnessed; he thought it would be best to get Harry out of there and fast. Harry was surprised and worried by how fast his godfather returned.  
  
"We have to get out of here and now; it's not safe."  
  
Just as Sirius had said this; Harry saw two masked wizards step outside. They had their wands out and they looked murderous; dangerously murderous.  
  
"Sirius? What's going on?"  
  
"Not now Harry, I'll explain when we get back to Hogwarts."  
  
Harry remained silent; trying to figure out what happened. He soon stopped though because he felt it was useless.  
  
Sirius was driving at a dangerously fast speed; Harry was starting to worry that they were going to crash.  
  
Considering that they lived a good distance from London, the got to the Leaky Cauldron in no time at all.  
  
"Tom we need to use your fireplace and some floo powder; it's urgent." Sirius said rushed.  
  
Tom saw the look on Sirius' face and hurried them to back of the pub.  
  
Sirius took a pinch of floo powder from the little box on top of the mantle and threw it into the flames.  
  
"Harry you go first; we're going to Hogsmeade."  
  
Harry stepped up to the fire and shouted "Hogsmeade!"  
  
He felt the familiar feeling of being swallowed by the flames; and remembering previous experiences; he tucked in his elbows and began to spin in a whirl of color watching the different fireplaces going by. He felt himself slowing down and he out his hands out to prevent and injuries. He then got out of the way not wanting to be in the way of Sirius who had just toppled out of the fireplace a short while after Harry.  
  
"C'mon let's go." Sirius said as he grabbed Harry's elbow.  
  
Harry realized that they had been transported to the Three Broomsticks and they were receiving curious looks from the witches and wizards sitting at tables here and there.  
  
They made their way to the Shrieking Shack. Since they had no other way of getting to Hogwarts, they would have to take the route which led to the Whomping Willow.  
  
Harry sensed that something was wrong, very wrong, but he kept his mouth shut as they were already entering the shack and making their way to the tunnel which led to Hogwarts.  
  
Harry still had the feeling that something was wrong, but now it was accompanied by the feeling of being watched, maybe even followed.  
  
"Sirius, something's not right….I think we're being watched, maybe even followed." Harry said with concern while looking in all directions.  
  
"Yeah I have that feeling as well; but let's just keep moving; we're nearly there."  
  
Sirius was right because just a few moments after he said this, they were prodding the knot and the tree froze suddenly.  
  
They began their way up to the school, when they heard something a few meters in front of them.  
  
Harry couldn't make out who they were, but he could tell that they were death eaters; just by the way they looked. Harry wasn't sure what they were going to do. He looked at Sirius; he was reaching for his wand. Harry had a feeling that he knew why these death eaters were here, and of course he was right. They were there for him.  
  
"Harry stay behind me and get wand out; be ready, I don't know what is going to happen." Sirius whispered to Harry.  
  
Harry did what he was told, but he only wished he knew what was going to happen.  
  
"Don't worry Sirius, we don't want you! We want the boy! Now hand him over!" The death eater which was closest to them snarled.  
  
"Over my dead body." Sirius spat.  
  
"Well that can be arranged." The death eater said menacingly.  
  
Just as the death eater raised his wand to kill Sirius; there was a sound coming from behind a clump of bushes. They all looked sharply at the bushes, waiting to see what or who it was.  
  
All of a sudden they heard a weird shriek, but it wasn't of pain, it was of anger and protection. Then the creature that was making the sound emerged from the bushes; Harry let out a gasp of shock. Standing before them was a real live vampire. Harry noticed that it was a female and had red hair. "What kind of vampire has red hair?" Harry thought to himself.  
  
Before anyone knew what was happening the vampire walked towards the death eaters. For some reason, they had absolutely no expression of fear on their faces. The vampire had said some incantation in a different language, which no one had been able to understand. Suddenly the death eaters wore a look of both shock and pain upon their faces. Sirius and Harry were the only ones that weren't being put through any pain. As Harry took a closer look at the surrounding death eaters, he noticed that they were starting to turn blue, though very slowly. In no time at all, they death eaters were lying on the ground motionless.  
  
Harry just stood there gaping at what he had just witnessed.  
  
"W-What just happened?" Harry asked with some trouble.  
  
"I think we should head back up to the castle and talk to Professor Dumbledore; he'll know what is going on……I hope."  
  
They made their way up to the castle in a sinister silence, until Harry asked "What did she do to those death eaters?"  
  
"I'm not exactly sure what happened; well I have a theory but I think that I should run it by Dumbledore first."  
  
Harry didn't say anything; probably because he was still trying to process what had just happened.  
  
Harry didn't even realize that they were in the castle or that they were even outside Dumbledore's office.  
  
He barely even realized it when they were standing in Dumbledore's office.  
  
"Sirius…what happened?" Dumbledore said with a look of concern.  
  
"Well after I picked Harry up from that train, we got to our home and saw that the doors were opened and the windows were smashed. There were fires scattered here and there as well. I went up to the house, but I never went inside. I never had to. I looked through one of the windows, and saw that there were a few bodies here and there on the floor. I was going to go inside, but for some reason I decided to stay where I was. I then saw some death eaters coming down the stairs. They barely spotted me, but I ran to the car and drove us to London where Tom, the bartender at the Leaky Cauldron, let us use his fireplace and some floo powder. We went to Hogsmeade, since that was the closet we would be able to get to the school. Harry had a feeling that something was not right, almost like we were being watched and possibly followed. When we reached the grounds of the school we were stopped by a few death eaters. Then a vampire appeared from the bushes and she did something to the death eaters. It was almost as if she froze them, but from the inside out." Sirius paused, awaiting Dumbledore's reaction.  
  
  
  
Dumbledore merely stroked his beard, thinking of the best way to answer this.  
  
"Well even though you have only been gone a few hours, a lot has happened. We have talked the vampire leader into letting two of their most powerful vampires join us at our school in protecting the children. I believe by from what you told me about that certain vampire on the grounds, that her name is Pepper, which is short for a name which even I cannot pronounce! Well yes, that is precisely what she had done. She has the ability to freeze people from the inside out. It is very painful no doubt. Along with that, she can send along a blast of ice so strong, that it can block the most dangerous curses."  
  
"Oh, that is very interesting….I think." Sirius said with apprehension.  
  
"Don't worry Sirius, they won't hurt you!" Dumbledore said amusedly.  
  
"Does this mean that Voldemort might be coming here?" Harry asked suddenly.  
  
"Well Harry there is the possibility that he may come sometime before the end of the year; though we are not for certain. That is why you must stay with someone at all times, and don't leave your common room after hours. Oh and try your hardest to listen to your teachers. If they say to go somewhere you go, if they say anything, anything at all, about Voldemort or the death eaters, then you do as they tell you. Do you understand Harry?"  
  
"Yes Professor."  
  
"Well then Harry I suggest that you head back to your tower; for I am sure you want to rejoice with your friends. They will be most curious about your sudden arrival."  
  
"Thank you Professor." Harry got up and headed towards the door.  
  
Harry closed the door behind him and he caught a bit of the conversation before Dumbledore and Sirius.  
  
"Do you think it is wise to let him remain his keeper?"  
  
Harry immediately recognized that as Sirius' voice; it wasn't that hard since there were only two people in the office.  
  
"Yes Sirius; I trust him more than you will ever know. I can trust him and I believe you should as well. You may not believe me when I say this now, but it was done for the best."  
  
Harry heard one of the chairs scraping against the floor, signaling that their conversation was coming to a close. Harry darted down the stairs without a sound and ran to the Gryffindor tower, meeting no one on his way.  
  
When he walked into the common room, he found that it was deserted except for two people by the fire. As he walked closer he noticed that it was Ron and Hermione sitting in a chair talking quietly to each other.  
  
Harry was about to leave, figuring he should let them be, when Hemione looked up.  
  
"Oh hi Harry." She said in a mild surprise. "Wait a minute; I thought you went home for the holidays?"  
  
By now Ron and Hemrione were looking at him with identical expressions of worry.  
  
"Well….I did go home….and then I came back, along with Sirius."  
  
"Well why did you come back? Not that we don't want you here or anything…." Hemrione said trailing off.  
  
"Well when we got home, we saw that the doors were opened and the windows were smashed." Harry continued with the story noticing that Ron and Hermione looked somewhat scared.  
  
"Why are there vampires here? Dumbledore told me about Voldemort, but….I dunno….it just doesn't seem to fit. I mean he wouldn't even allow the dementors in the school. He didn't even want them here in that matter." Harry said with curiosity.  
  
"Well, Harry, we think that maybe there may have been some death eaters in the school. But no one knows how they entered." Hermione paused looking at Ron, and then she continued. "There have also been some reports that Voldemort is close by; really close."  
  
Harry was silent trying to comprehend all of the information he was just given. "So that means that death eaters can get into the school as easily as Sirius had, and Voldemort may be able to come here as well?"  
  
"Well….yeah." Ron said finally joining the conversation.  
  
"How do you even know that death eaters were in the school?"  
  
"Well….." Hermione began. "We overheard some of the teachers talking, and they were all worried and asking one another how they, being the death eaters, were able to get into the school."  
  
Harry collapsed into a nearby chair, "So I guess that Voldemort has returned once again; only this time it isn't in a dream, it is really life. What are we going to do?" Harry said, though more to himself. He had forgotten that there were two other people in the room with him at the moment.  
  
They were about to pick up their conversation when Kenny entered the common room. "Harry, can I talk to you for a sec?"  
  
Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, and said "Sure."  
  
"Well actually I'm not the one that wants to talk to you." He said when they were on the other side of the common room, far away from prying ears. "It is some of my friends that wish to speak to you."  
  
Harry was wondering what his friends, the ones that blamed him for Voldmort destroying their school, would want to talk to him for.  
  
Harry saw Heather and Melissa walking towards the both of them.  
  
Melissa had a strained sort of smile on her face as she said, "The others will be here shortly."  
  
"Well, why don't we just get started; if they have anything to say they will be sure to say what is on there minds." Kenny said wanting to get started.  
  
"Well Harry, the main reason why we wanted to talk to you is because we wanted to say that we're sorry. We know that Kenny told you about what we really felt. It's just that we knew Voldemort would be angry after you defeated him again last year; including taking your blood back. Well we knew that it wasn't your fault. We know that with all of the things going on, that the teachers are going to need all thehelp they can get; even if they don't want us to help in fear of us getting hurt, or worse killed. So we decided that blaming you was very inconsiderate. We know how you have the lack of listening when you are told to stay in the common room, and well, we are the same way. I think that if we put our powers together, we can beat Voldemort and his death eaters." Heather said this sounding quite sincere.  
  
Harry thought about this for a moment. When he looked up he realized that Kenny's other friends were standing there with a look of hopefulness on their faces.  
  
"Are you really telling the truth? Or are you just saying this for your own amusement?" Harry asked.  
  
Josh was now the one who started to speak. "Harry we are being completely honest, we would really like to join our forces and defeat Voldemort once and for all."  
  
"Can I think about this first? I mean it's all kind of sudden. Just the other day you seemed like you didn't care whether I lived or died."  
  
Josh nodded his head and said "Sure Harry, take as long as you like."  
  
Harry nodded at this and left to go by Ron and Hermione. They didn't talk much, only sat and listened to the fire crackling.  
  
In no time at all the Christmas holidays were over and the next Quidditch match was around the corner.  
  
Harry decided that it would be best if they started practicing during the Christmas holidays. They had done just that and Ron was now prepared for the upcoming match against none other than Slytherin.  
  
"Do you think I'm really ready?" Ron asked one day at breakfast.  
  
"Yes Ron. I truly believe that you are ready. But to be honest you're the only one that really knows if you're ready or not." Harry said while starting on his breakfast.  
  
"What do we have next?" Ron asked.  
  
"DADA. I wonder what Snape is going to torture us with today."  
  
"Well you never know. He has been pretty nice to us lately."  
  
"Yeah I guess your right. But it could always mean that he has something planned for us."  
  
What Harry didn't know was that Snape was watching him from the head table. He figured out what Harry said by reading his lips, and then looked at Dumbledore.  
  
"I know Serverus, I know." Dumbledore said with care.  
  
  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all headed up to DADA without knowing whether they should be worried or not about the lesson ahead.  
  
They were some of the first few students to take their seats; Snape wasn't in there yet so it gave the four of them a chance to talk some more.  
  
"So what do you think he has planned for us today?" Ron asked quietly  
  
"Well, whatever it is, I just hope he doesn't torture us or take away any points." Harry said back to Ron.  
  
Ron was just about to say something when they heard Snape's voice. "Good morning class. Today we will learn about vampires. The reason for this is because as you may all know. Our school is being guarded by some of these creatures. Can anyone tell me anything, anything at all about vampires?"  
  
Hermione was looking meaningfully at Snape. "Of course she knows the answer, she always does." Snape thought to himself before saying, "Just this once Miss. Granger. You may answer."  
  
Ron and Harry had identical looks of shock on their faces; Hemrione was a bit shocked as well.  
  
"The vampire is a very powerful creature. They usually have black hair, except for the ones which hold more power; they usually have red or any other color hair. Vampires can perform magic just by thinking it; it is usually magic which causes death or suffering for long periods of time." Hermione said this all very quietly and quickly, looking right into Professor Snape's eyes.  
  
"That is correct Miss. Granger. Ten points to Gryffindor." Snape said with absolutely no feeling; though what he was feeling inside was pain, pain for many things.  
  
That is how the rest of the class went, taking notes and listening to Snape going on and on about vampires and how to approach them.  
  
"Well that was a very interesting lesson!" Ron said when they emerged from the classroom.  
  
"Yeah, he actually let Hermione answer a question; and he gave our house points. I think Snape has gone soft." Harry said somewhat amusedly.  
  
"You guys, I think you shouldn't talk about Snape like that." Hermione said quietly, though the tone of her voice was full of emotion.  
  
"Why? I mean he always treated our house like we were dirt. You even said a few things about him before Hermione. So why the sudden change?" Ron said harshly.  
  
"Well, when I was answering the question, for some reason I couldn't help but look him straight in the eye. I noticed that his eyes are full of pain and sorrow, not the usual loathing look which he keeps for specific students." Hermione said, but this time in her normal voice.  
  
"So what are you saying Hermione? That we should be nice to him?" Ron said, with his temper rising.  
  
Harry immediately knew where this was heading, so he stepped into the conversation. "Before you guys go any further, can you think about what your arguing about? I mean it's Snape we're talking about! I know that he is human and that he has feelings, but Ron does have a point Hermione!" Harry said, but then quickly added, "And so do you Hermione! Both of you have logical reasons for believing what you believe and for saying what you are saying! My point is, don't go and ruin your friendship just because you disagree about Snape!" Harry didn't stay any longer to hear what Ron or Hemrione had to say, he just took off in the direction of the common room.  
  
Harry was walking through the halls, trying to listen for any shouting from the direction in which he just came from. He was about to turn the last corner before he would have reached the painting of the fat lady, when he heard talking. He stopped abruptly and listened. Harry immediately recognized one of the voices as his godfather Sirius; the only mystery was the other person that was with him.  
  
"Why are you following me? What do you want?" Sirius said with a note of aggregation in his voice.  
  
Harry peered around the corner and what he saw and almost made him burst out laughing. Sirius had another red-haired vampire, which seemed to be following him. Harry saw that this was not that same vampire that Harry saw on the night in which he returned to Hogwarts, but a different one, which seemed quite taken with Sirius.  
  
Harry walked casually around the corner, and said with a smirk on his face, "Hello Sirius. I see you met the other vampire."  
  
The look which Sirius gave Harry, was a look that plainly said, "I'll get you for this!"  
  
Harry just walked past Sirius, trying his best not to laugh and at the same time staying out of Sirius' grasp.  
  
  
  
Soon after Harry walked into the common room, Ron and Hemione entered. The two of them walked over to Harry, who was sitting by the fire going over what he had just witnessed in the corridor.  
  
"Hey Harry. Look we're both sorry for acting like that." Hermione said smiling sweetly at Harry.  
  
Harry was confused, and it showed on his face. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"Harry, just a little bit ago in the hall. When Ron and I were arguing about Snape." Hermione said starting to get worried. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"Oh, that. I actually forgotten about that. You see, I was distracted in the corridor a few moments ago."  
  
"By what exactly?" Hermione asked curiously.  
  
Harry tried to hold back his laughter as he told the story. "Well I was walking back from our little conversation, and I heard some talking. I immediately recognized the voice as Sirius, so I peered around the corner, wanting to see who he was with. Well I saw who he was with all right!"  
  
"Well! Who was he with?" Ron asked, finally joining in on the conversation.  
  
"He was with a vampire. The funny thing is that she wouldn't leave him alone, kept on following Sirius. I think she was quite taken with him!" Harry laughed out.  
  
Ron and Hermione never even said two words before they started to laugh uncontrollably.  
  
When they finally calmed down (which took a few minutes), Ron asked, "Are we going to be having anymore practices?"  
  
"Well Ron, I think we will, there are only 2 more days before the match against Slytherin. Extra practice never hurt, especially going against Slytherin."  
  
"Yeah I guess your right. Hey how about we go see how Tim's doing?" Ron asked suddenly.  
  
"We probably should; we haven't been checking up o him for the past few days with practice and all."  
  
So the three of them went down to the hospital wing to check up on Tim.  
  
"Is he doing any better?" Hermione asked Madam Pomfrey worriedly.  
  
"Well his injuries are healing fairly well, but he's still showing no sign of waking up; it could be a matter of months before he actually does come around."  
  
It was clear to Harry that Madam Pomfrey didn't quite approve of Tim having visitors. Just by the way she looked at them when the three of them walked into the hospital wing showed that she didn't want anybody disturbing her patients. However, she held her tongue and spoke nothing of it; she just let then sit by Tim's bedside hoping for him to wake.  
  
  
  
Those 2 days before the match quickly passed, and it was now the morning of the match against Slytherin. Harry woke up fairly early, and was surprised when he saw that Ron was sitting in the common room.  
  
"Hey Ron! What are you doing up so early?" Harry asked cheerfully; he was used to the feeling of excitement before a match.  
  
"Nothing, I just couldn't sleep." Ron replied simply.  
  
"Look Ron, there's nothing to be nervous about! You're going to do great! Trust me! I've seen you at practice, you are definitely ready to go out there and beat Slytherin!"  
  
"What's it like Harry?"  
  
"What's what like?"  
  
"The feeling, the feeling before the match begins."  
  
"Well, I remember at my very first match, I was extremely nervous. But as soon as I walked out onto the pitch it all went away, because I knew that I would do just fine."  
  
"Did you ever feel like you were going to be sick?"  
  
Harry immediately saw where this was going, "Ron you're going to be fine! Just don't worry about it and you will do fine; I promise!"  
  
  
  
By now the rest of the Gryffindor team was in the common room; they headed down to the great hall for breakfast, which Ron had not consumed one morsel of food.  
  
  
  
They soon headed out to the pitch, gathering cheers from the Gryffindor table. It wasn't until they stepped onto the pitch that they realized how difficult the game would actually be.  
  
"It's bloody freezing out!" Ron said loudly.  
  
Harry had never played in these conditions before, so he obviously did not know what o expect of the outcome.  
  
"Well, we're just going to have to try our best. We shouldn't do that bad, I mean we did practice all during the holiday." Harry said trying not to feel the coldness in his legs.  
  
The team quickly changed into their Quidditch robes and Harry gave his speech. "Well team, we know what we have to do, and we're not going to let the weather drag us down! So let's get out there and beat Slytherin!"  
  
They walked out to the familiar sounds of cheering and applause. Just like the previous game, Oliver Wood was doing the announcing.  
  
Harry and Malfoy gripped hands rather tightly, and then 15 brooms rose into the air.  
  
"The Gryffindor keeper, Tim Ridicule, will not be playing in this game. He seems to still be in hospital wing unconscious. Ronald Weasley will be taking his place today."  
  
Harry flew high into the sky, already starting to look for the snitch. He saw that Malfoy was too getting a head start on looking for the snitch; by marking Harry.  
  
Harry wanted this game to end as soon as possible; mostly because of the cold. He knew he couldn't keep his players out in this for all that long.  
  
He kept on listening to the commentary; trying to see if Wood would say anything about the snitch. Harry was also watching Malfoy and looking out for the snitch at the same time.  
  
Suddenly Harry spotted the snitch by the Slytherin goalposts. Malfoy was closer, much closer; but since he hadn't spotted it yet, Harry still had a chance. He sped off in that direction, carefully avoiding Malfoy. When Harry was a few meters away, Malfoy looked up and spotted Harry. Malfoy was still closer, but Harry had the better broom. Harry put on a sudden burst of speed and was now right besides Malfoy. They battled neck and neck to reach the snitch first; but Harry was faster and grabbed it before Malfoy even knew what was happening. The stand exploded with cheers so loud that not even Oliver could be heard.  
  
Before anyone knew what was going on, Harry was being thrown from his broom. Harry grabbed onto the broom handle, trying to hold on. The stands were now watching Harry, hoping that he didn't fall, or get killed. His broom gave an almighty jerk and lost his grip of his broom. Harry was now falling freely, gaining more speed as he plunged closer and closer to the ground. He felt like all of his oxygen was being cut off from going at such great speeds. Things were starting to get hazy, and they were slowly turning to black.  
  
Harry was almost to the ground when he felt like he was being lifted towards the sky; but that could have been the cause of lack of oxygen. He looked up and saw that someone had caught him on their broom, but before he found out who it was, he blacked out.  
  
Harry was only in the hospital wing a couple of days before he finally woken up. He looked around curiously, before everything came flooding back, rapidly gaining speed, the feeling of suffocation. Then he remembered how someone had saved him, saved him from hitting the ground. He was still thinking about this when the door to the hospital wing opened and Dumbledore walked in.  
  
"I see that you have finally awoken!" He said with a smile on his face.  
  
"How long was I in here Professor?"  
  
"Oh, not long. I say about 3 days."  
  
Harry just sat there, unsure of what to say. He then remembered wondering who caught him. "Professor? Who caught me when I fell off my broom?"  
  
"It seems to me that you may still have a bump on your head Harry! You see, no one caught you, you fell to the ground. There was a moment where we thought that you were dead."  
  
Those last words echoed in Harry's head. "But Professor, I saw someone catch me right before I passed out."  
  
"Strange, strange indeed. It's either one of two things, you hurt your head worse then we thought you did, or you really did see someone."  
  
Harry was lost in his own thoughts, that he didn't even hear Ron and Hermione come in.  
  
"Harry? Are you alright?" Was what Hermione had to say a few times before Harry actually heard her.  
  
"When I fell, did I hit the ground? Did you see anyone by me?" That was the first thing Harry asked them when he was brought from his thoughts.  
  
Hermione suddenly looked like she was about to break down crying. "Harry we all thought you were dead. The way you hit the ground, and how limp your body was after that; your lips were turning blue and you were pale, you were so pale Harry." She managed to choke out.  
  
"But before I blacked out, I saw someone; well I never actually saw their face because everything was so fuzzy, but I knew that a person was there. I even asked Dumbledore and he said that no one was there."  
  
"Well Harry, you did hit your head pretty hard, and falling at that speed was sure to cause hallucinations." Hermione said a little more put together.  
  
"Look I know what I saw! I swear someone was there!"  
  
Hermione was going to argue about this some more, but Madam Pomfrey shooed them all away. Harry was handed that all to familiar sleeping potion and he drifted off into a dreamless, painless sleep.  
  
About a week after Harry was released from the hospital wing, some of his questions were answered when he was called to Dumbledore's office after dinner.  
  
Harry was just about to head up to the Gryffindor common room, when Dumbledore called out to Harry, "Harry, I need to speak with you in my office."  
  
Harry was curious, like always, by what he would want to speak to him about. He made his way to Dumbledore's office and let himself in; he noticed that Sirius was already in the office obviously waiting for Dumbledore to arrive.  
  
"Hello Harry; how are you feeling?" Sirius asked with concern.  
  
"I'm fine, and yourself?"  
  
Right when Sirius was about to answer, Dumbledore walked in, so he remained silent.  
  
"Well I see that we are all here, so let's begin!" Dumbledore said clasping his hands together.  
  
"Professor, what am I here for?" Harry asked looking at Dumbledore.  
  
"Well Harry, there are a few things that you should know. Some of things you have already been asking your Sirius about."  
  
Harry just nodded, not knowing what else he should do to respond to this.  
  
"Harry, as you know, I bought our house from an old Quidditch player." Sirius said finally joining in on the conversation. "Well the only reason that I told you to do some research on him is I wanted you to know what he had done to help Quidditch players everywhere. Yeah I know that I could have told you what he had accomplished, but I felt if you read it then it would have stuck."  
  
"So, then what did he do?"  
  
"Well he came up with an organization designed specifically to protect the players from any harm. For instance, spells, hexes, or curses used to prevent a certain team from winning. Well the main purpose was to keep the players alive because most of them were muggle born. As you know Voldemort hated muggle borns, so he wanted them all dead. But this was years and years ago; actually it was part of his plan to increase his power. Well when Voldemort was no longer a threat, this little organization wasn't needed anymore, but since of recent events it has been called back into order. That is why some of your old teammates are here, because they are apart of this organization. When Tim got hit in the head at the first match, they knew Ravenclaw wouldn't do something like that, and then at the last game, you wouldn't just fall off your broom the way you did. So they set out straight away to find out what caused these mysterious mishaps."  
  
"So did they find anything out?"  
  
"Well actually they did; it was caused by death eaters. I don't know their way of figuring these things out, but when the first incident occurred with your team this year, I knew that it had something to do with them."  
  
"So you see Harry, right now, you are starting to experience what it was like to live when Voldemort was in full power. You have to be careful Harry." Dumbledore said seriously. "You may go back to your tower now."  
  
"But Professor?" Sirius asked suddenly.  
  
"Another time Sirius, another time." Dumbledore said which indicated the end of the meeting.  
  
Harry was beyond confused, but he decided to shove that aside; he didn't want to think about things like that at the moment.  
  
Harry made his way back to his tower, when he heard something coming from around the corner. At first he thought that it was Sirius trying to persuade the vampire to leave him alone, but then he remembered that Sirius was still with Dumbledore.  
  
Curiously, Harry moved as close as possible, he peered around the corner, to see who it was. Harry saw that it was Draco, talking with some people which he did not recognize.  
  
"No one is going to expect it, so that is the best way, and place to do this. The old man Dumbledore won't even be there so there is no way he can stop it." Draco said in a whisper, which was loud enough for Harry to hear.  
  
Then one of the other boys answered, "But don't you think it may be a little close? That's why it might not work."  
  
"Trust me, everything will go perfect. No one knows what is going to happen. It is part of the plan for Dumbledore to show up; by the time he gets there it will be too late. Now go, I think I hear someone coming." Draco said putting his hand up for silence.  
  
Harry dodged into an empty classroom to his right when he saw that the boys that Draco was talking to were heading his way.  
  
When Harry was sure that they were gone, he headed back to the tower carefully, not wanting to run into Draco.  
  
"Harry, what took you so long?" Hermione said looking at Harry as he entered the common room.  
  
"Well I was on my way when I saw Draco talking to some people around our age; I didn't recognize them though. Well anyways, I stopped to listen to what they were saying; I don't think it's good by what I was hearing." Harry said quietly.  
  
"What do you mean Harry?" Hermione asked, starting to get worried.  
  
Harry told her everything, starting from when he first heard Draco talking. He knew that when he finished talking, Hermione would immediately suggest going to Dumbledore, and sure enough that is exactly what happened.  
  
"Harry we have to go tell Dumbledore right away, if they're planning something then it's best he knows!"  
  
"I know, but it doesn't make sense! We don't even have all the information that would be needed! What I am going to say? Oh hi Dumbledore, I thought you'd like to know that I heard Draco talking and it sounds like they're planning something, okay well have a good day. I say we wait until we have anymore idea to what they might be up to. I promise that when I find out more I will tell Dumbledore." Harry said sincerely, he then added, "Where's Ron?"  
  
"Oh I think he's up in the dorms, claimed he lost his homework for Snape."  
  
Harry ran up the stairs to find Ron throwing things rapidly out of his trunk.  
  
"Hey Harry, have you seen my homework for Snape?"  
  
"Yeah, it's on your bed Ron." Harry said as he pointed to the bed.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Harry sat down on the edge of his bed and sighed loudly.  
  
"What's wrong Harry?"  
  
"Malfoy; he's planning, well knows something."  
  
"What is it now?"  
  
"Well I saw him talking to some people on my way back from Dumbledore." Harry then retold what he had heard to Ron, watching his reaction change dramatically.  
  
"So what are we going to do? You don't think it has to do with You Know Who do you?" Ron said quietly as if Voldemort could hear him.  
  
"I have no idea what we are going to do and I am pretty sure that it has to do with Voldemort; but with Malfoy you never know."  
  
"I say that we watch Malfoy, with the map I mean. And if we see him then we'll just use your invisibility cloak and we'll see what he's up to."  
  
"Yeah that will probably work. But do you think that the both of us will actually fit under it? It has been awhile since we last used it, and even then we just barely fit under it."  
  
"Well then at least one of us should go."  
  
"How about I go? It most likely involves me anyways, by the way Malfoy was talking about it."  
  
"Yeah; so do you think Malfoy is going to meet up with those guys again?"  
  
Harry just shrugged his shoulders. He half hoped that they would show up, just so he could find out what was going on; the other half hoped they didn't.  
  
  
  
A few months gone by since Ron and Harry had that conversation. It was now the end of March and Harry as sitting in the common room doing some of his homework with the Marauder's Map at his side. He kept on looking at as though he expected to see something; he felt that way since they formed the plan back in January.  
  
After about his fifth time looking at it that night, he saw something that made his eyes open in shock. By the Charms corridor, was Malfoy, no wait there were two of them.  
  
Harry ran up to the boys' dormitory and quickly got his cloak from the bottom of his trunk. Harry went back down to the common room with his invisibility cloak under his arm. He didn't attract any attention as he crept towards the portrait hole. As soon as he was in the corridor, he wrapped the cloak around him and took another glance at the map; they were still there.  
  
Harry ran off in the direction of the Charms corridor and he saw that Draco and his dad were still there talking quickly. Harry crept silently closer, hoping to catch some of their conversation.  
  
"How did you get in here anyway? Weren't they suspicious?" Draco asked his dad.  
  
"No Draco, no one was suspicious. I simply came and discussed the situation that was going with the death eaters at Hogsmeade, and that I needed to speak with you." Mr. Malfoy said carelessly.  
  
"What did you tell him about Hogsmeade?"  
  
"Well that the death eaters were gone of course, oh and how there haven't been there for a few months."  
  
"So is what we talked about going to happen?"  
  
"Well…."  
  
Mr. Malfoy stopped abruptly as he was distracted by a Miss Norris, which was only a short distance away from Harry.  
  
Harry saw that both of the Malfoy's were staring in his direction.  
  
"Search this hallway, someone is here." Lucius said loudly to Draco.  
  
Draco and his father began to search that hallway. They were doing anything in order to find who was there. They were on their knees, walking with their arms open, and doing anything else imaginable. Harry would have laughed at the scene if he wasn't trying to think of a way out of there. He had just looked at the map once more when he saw someone from behind; Wormtail.  
  
"Peter, help us search this hallway, someone is here and they were spying on mine and Draco's conversation." Lucius said angrily to peter.  
  
Peter, who was undoubtedly scared of what would happen if he didn't obey his commands, began searching the hallway in the same manner.  
  
Harry was trapped; there was no way of escape. He looked frantically around; hoping that there was the slightest space which he could run back to the tower.  
  
The space between Harry and Lucius was growing smaller and smaller. Harry began to panic, "What am I going to do?" He thought to himself, looking around once more.  
  
When he looked back to where he was watching the gap close between him and Lucius, he saw that he was now standing in front of him.  
  
Harry began to panic; frantically looking around him once more, he realized that there was no way of escaping this. He took a few steps back, making sure he didn't bump into anyone. He kept on backing up, but the gap still drew closer. Suddenly Lucius ran forward with his arms spread, and before Harry could do anything, he was caught and the cloak fell onto the ground.  
  
Harry was now struggling in Lucius' grasp, trying to break free. This only angered Lucius more, and his grip was tightened. This didn't stop Harry from trying to escape from the tightening grip of Lucius. He did anything that he could think of; kicking, biting, and yelling were some of the things which Harry tried to escape. None of these worked, however they only infuriated Lucius and he threw Harry against the wall.  
  
Harry hit the wall head first and tried his hardest to remain conscious, but he failed and fell into complete darkness; his mind blank.  
  
  
  
When he woke up he was in a small room, and by what he could tell there was no way of escaping. He looked around and saw that there was a window which looked much too small for him to fit through, and of course there was the door.  
  
Harry tried to get up, but he was simply to weak to hold himself up; so he crawled to the door. After a few minutes he reached the door and peered through the crack. The room he was in was extremely dark; only lit by the light which was spilling in from the hallway. From what he saw, no one was guarding the door, but then he saw someone walk to the door; they never left.  
  
Harry crawled back to where he was moments ago when he had first awoken. "What am I going to do?" He said aloud to himself.  
  
Harry looked around at his surroundings once more, looking for something that may help him in this dreadful situation. There was nothing that he considered useful, the only things which were present was a rickety old table and three wooden stools.  
  
He searched his pockets; hoping to find his wand or anything else. Harry felt a piece of parchment in his pocket and took it out. "The map!" He thought excitedly to himself.  
  
He opened it up, hoping that it wasn't erased. The map still had Hogwarts on it; he looked around for a few moments, hoping to see something on it. Harry noticed that a lot of the staff was in the halls. "They're probably looking for me." Harry thought to himself. Harry had no idea how long he had been unconscious, and he was just beginning to feel the pain he was in. He touched the back of his head, and when he pulled it back, he saw that it was covered in dark red blood.  
  
His head was still bleeding freely minutes later. He placed his hand on the wound, hoping to slow it down, but it only dripped down his arm and landed in a puddle of blood which was starting to form on the concrete floor.  
  
Harry began to feel dizzy and extremely tired; he rested his head against the wall and fell asleep.  
  
He only woke up when he was shaken roughly by, who Harry thought was one of Voldmort's death eaters, and was ordered out of the room.  
  
Harry was guided out of the room; the man who was leading him placed a very gentle hand on his shoulder. This surprised Harry, "When are death eaters ever gently?" Harry thought to himself.  
  
Harry was lead into yet another room, which was empty. Before the death eater left the room, he slipped something from under his robes; a piece of cloth and Harry's wand. Harry just stood there, uncertain and confused. The man turned and walked out of the room with a swish of his cloak. There was something about that man that Harry recognized. He was in such deep thought, trying to figure out who this person was that he didn't even know that someone else entered the room. Harry was brought from his thoughts when he felt that familiar of pain go through his scar. He managed to stay standing, though he was swaying on the spot.  
  
"Well hello again Potter! How nice to see you!" Voldemort said with a evil grin on his face.  
  
Harry just started straight into his gleaming eyes, despite the pain he was going through. He gripped his wand tightly, and thought about using it at that very moment, but he thought he should wait for a little while longer.  
  
"Harry, I'm not so stupid. Now give me your wand."  
  
"Why should I? It's pointless really. The only thing I can do is….." Harry paused for a moment and then shouted "INCENDIA!"  
  
This is what Voldemort least expected from Harry, so he had no way of stopping the ball of fire from hitting him full force. He was thrown back into the wall, as his death eaters tried to put out the fire, all except one.  
  
That particular death eater crept silently over to Harry, and pulled him out of the room. For some reason, Harry knew that this person was not going to harm him in any way, so Harry let this man pull him from the room.  
  
"Who are you?" Harry asked curiously.  
  
The man just looked at him, though Harry didn't know it, but the man had a look of pain on his face.  
  
"So you won't tell me then?" Harry asked, starting to get a little worried.  
  
The man just shook his head, and motioned for Harry to walk faster.  
  
The two of them were heading down the long corridor when they heard shouts coming from behind them. Harry looked in the direction from where they were coming from and saw Death Eaters running towards them, shouting curse after curse trying to make them stop. Harry and the mysterious man ran off in the direction of the nearest exit, they were still a great distance from the doors when they heard the same spell Harry had used being shouted over.  
  
Harry and the other man put on an extra burst of speed and ran to the doors. They finally reached the doors and threw them open, revealing the dark, cold night. Harry saw that they were in a wooded area, with a road up ahead. They ran to the trees, where they would have a better chance of not being seen. The best thing would be to stay at the edge of the forest, right by the road so they would have some clue to where they were going.  
  
They ran for about 10 minutes when they heard a yell and then laugh coming from behind them. Soon after, they felt an extraordinary amount of heat and the sound of toppling trees. Harry turned around, and saw what was making that noise and rustling sound. The Death Eaters had set the forest on fire, hoping to either smoke them out or that it would kill them.  
  
They were in a part of the forest which was so thick, that it took over half an hour just to move a few yards. The fire was now moving more rapidly; it was so close that you can feel the heat on the back of your neck. The wind soon began to pick up, which caused the fire to move more quickly towards Harry and the other man.  
  
The mysterious man then grabbed Harry and brought him towards the edge of the forest; the fire was moving much too rapidly for them to stay in fire there and survive. Harry took a breath of air when they reached the road; he hadn't realized that he was having a hard time breathing.  
  
Once again, the two ran up the road, hoping to get far away before the Death Eaters reached the road. Just when Harry thought they lost the group of Death Eaters, a fireball hurled past Harry, scorching his robes. He cried out in pain as he felt the burning sensation spreading through his arm. It was soon out though from a jet of water from the mans' wand.  
  
Even though Harry was injured, he continued to run. The man turned around to get a look at what was going on, when he was hit full force by a ball of fire right in his chest. He screamed in agony as the fire spread over the rest of his robes. Harry, quickly shot a jet of water at the masked man, and he was very thankful for it.  
  
Before they could send anymore blasts of fire, the masked man said a few well chosen words and a broom appeared in front of them. He handed it to Harry indicating that he should ride it.  
  
"What about you?" Harry asked curiously.  
  
The man just motioned for Harry to get on the broom; he had no other choice for the group of Death Eaters were moving closer at an alarming rate. So Harry mounted the broom, and he saw that the man was getting on behind him. They both kicked off and Harry tried his best to dodge the balls of fire which were moving their way.  
  
In no time at all they were soaring through the clouds, now unable to hear the shouts from down below. Harry was trying to fly at the fastest speed, in order to get back to Hogwarts in the shortest amount of time; the only trouble was that he had no idea of where they were, or what direction to go in. The man just pointed a little over to the west, and then Harry turned to go in that direction.  
  
Harry was flying for what seemed like ages, he was beginning to feel drowsy, but the terrible pain in his arm and head was keeping him awake.  
  
The sky began to lighten as the towers and turrets slowly came into view. Harry began to feel a sense of relief as he flew closer, almost a feeling of new hope. He made it out of Voldemorts' clutches once again, and that was the only thing that mattered.  
  
Harry never realized how beautiful Hogwarts really was. Maybe it was that he felt as if he would never see it again, or maybe it was how wondrous and magical it looked with the rising sun hitting it, even the forest didn't look as eerie.  
  
Harry flew steadily towards the ground to make a perfect landing. The two of them got off and walked into the castle, heading straight towards Dumbledore's office.  
  
The masked man knocked on the office door, waiting patiently for it to be opened. Only a moment later they were sitting inside Dumbledore's office waiting to be questioned.  
  
"Well you gave us all quite a scare last night Harry." Dumbledore said with mild amusement, but the look on his face full of relief that Harry was now returned, in one piece in that matter. "Now, will you please tell us exactly what happened?"  
  
Harry gave a sigh as he began telling the story of what had happened the previous night. As he told them, everything came flooding back, the panic, the pain, the worry, and most of all the relief that he felt when he survived yet another encounter with Voldemort and his Death Eaters. He looked at Dumbledore and saw that he nodded, urging him to go on, so Harry continued knowing that it would only be a matter of time when he would just end the story just to begin it yet again.  
  
When he had finally finished, his throat was dry, and the pain in his arm was steadily growing worse. Harry looked at the masked man, and asked, "Who are you? Can you tell me now?"  
  
The man looked at Dumbledore, who nodded, and then paused for a moment before slowly taking off the hood. Harry let out a gasp when he realized who it was that saved him.  
  
Harry was speechless; the man who he thought hated him and wanted him dead was now responsible for saving his life.  
  
The tension in the room at that moment was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. Everyone just sat there in silence, not sure of what to say or do.  
  
Dumbledore was the one to break the tense silence, "Harry I think you should head to the hospital wing, things will be explained."  
  
Harry cut Dumbledore off, "Why can't they be explained now? I always have to wait to find out the truth; well I'm sick of waiting. I want to know now."  
  
Dumbledore glared at Harry for a few seconds time. The more he thought about it, he knew Harry was right and that he did deserve an explanation for certain things.  
  
"Well Harry, you are right, you do deserve an explanation. You may not want to hear this, but everything cannot be explained tonight, for this is not the right time. I cannot tell you at the moment why Severus was there to save you, but I am sure he will tell, when is up to him."  
  
When Harry looked at Snape, he saw that he wasn't using the look which was reserved just for Harry, but a look of emotional feeling.  
  
"Today I will only tell you how I came to find you; the rest will not be told until another time."  
  
Harry just sat there, waiting for what he was going to be told.  
  
"Well I was in an empty classroom, when I saw something moving outside, I simply thought that it was some students going out after curfew, so I decided to follow them. Well by the time I got outside, I saw no one. But then I heard a noise coming from the forest, I followed it expecting it to lead me to some trouble makers. I walked around in the forest for nearly 10 minutes, and then it was quiet, to quiet."  
  
Snape paused for a moment, sighing deeply. Harry noticed that now Snape was as white as a ghost; it almost looked as if he didn't want to say what happened next.  
  
Snape then continued with an encouraging smile from Dumbledore. "I continued to walk around, but it was quiet, and there was no sign of anyone being in the forest. The all of a sudden, my mind went blank, and everything was white, I had no idea to what might have happened, but I had a calm and easy feeling, like I knew that nothing was going to happen. Then almost as quick as it happened, it was over, I was lying on the ground and I knew that something was wrong and that you were no longer on the grounds. I don't know how, but I somehow found where you were. As soon as I got there I was attacked by some Death Eaters, but I fought them and stole a set of robes so I could pose as a Death Eater and get you out of there before Voldemort could do anything to you. And well the rest you know, so there's no need to explain it over again."  
  
Harry didn't know what to say, or think in that matter. He never expected that was what really happened, whatever he expected, it wasn't that.  
  
"Well now Harry, I think it is time for you and Severus to head to the hospital wing as the both of you are injured. I will find someone to take over your classes for the day Severus. And Harry, you may take the day off, you need to become well again." Dumbledore said calmly, though relieved that the two of them were still alive.  
  
Harry and Snape made their way to the hospital wing fully aware of their injuries. As soon as they walked into the hospital wing, they were ready for the reaction from Madam Pomfrey. She rushed over to them and immediately began taking care of them. In no time at all, Harry was once again drinking the familiar sleeping potion. Before he drifted off into a dreamless sleep, he looked over to where Tim was still unconscious a few beds away from where Harry was.  
  
The next day, Harry woke up to find that he had visitors. Ron, Hermione and the Gryffindor team were there; Harry also noticed that Cho was there as well.  
  
"Harry you're awake!" Hermione said excitedly which brought everyone's attention to Harry.  
  
"We've been so worried about you Harry." Cho said quietly.  
  
"When you weren't in the dorm last night, I figured that you were looking for someone, so I stayed up and you never came back, so I thought that he did something to you." Ron said looking exhausted.  
  
Harry knew exactly what Ron was talking about, he then remembered the night when the two of them made that plan; it seemed so long ago. Harry snapped himself out of his own thoughts when he heard Madam Pomfrey ordering Harry's visitors to leave and to come back in a few hours. When he was alone once more, he felt the pain come back; the pain in his arm, the pain in his head, the pain throughout his body from being worn out; both physically and emotionally. He paid no attention to what Madam Pomfrey was doing to his head and arm, instead he wondered about what else Snape had to say to him that he couldn't mention the previous morning.  
  
Harry swallowed the sleeping potion, and drifted into yet a dreamless sleep; he was unaware that Snape was watching him, with thoughts of every kind running through his head.  
  
When Harry woke, he was the only one in the hospital wing besides for Tim. Harry made some noise in order to attract Madam Pomfrey's attention. She soon came, and checked Harry over a number of times before she finally let him leave.  
  
He headed straight up to the Gryffindor tower, hoping to see Hermione and Ron. When he got there, he noticed that neither of them were there. Harry then ran up to the boys' dorm, hoping to see Ron there, and sure enough Ron was still sleeping.  
  
Harry decided to let them sleep; he also wanted to think about the other night and what Snape had told him. Almost half an hour later, he heard someone coming from the stairs on either side, hoping that it was Ron and Hemrione, he watched hopefully. Sure enough it was them; they were so excited to see that Harry was back in the common room.  
  
"We were wondering when you were going to be able to leave the hospital wing." Ron asked sleepily.  
  
"Yeah so was I; I couldn't wait to get out of there." Harry said with a sigh of relief.  
  
"Harry, what did happen that night?" Hermione asked cautiously.  
  
Harry looked from Ron to Hermione, and then launched into the story about how he saw Draco and his father on the map that night, and how he followed them. He heard an occasional gasp from Hermione, and saw Ron move nervously in his chair.  
  
When he finally finished the story for the second time, Hermione said, "Harry, I think that you should tell Dumbledore about what you heard that night. Did you tell him?"  
  
Harry just looked at her, "No I didn't tell him, I left that part on purpose."  
  
"Harry." Hermione began. "You must tell him!"  
  
"Do you know what's going to happen if I do?" He's probably going to lock me up somewhere just so I can be protected! I don't want to spend the rest of my life in fear just because I heard something that wasn't meant for me to hear!" Harry said raising his voice slightly.  
  
"I understand how you feel Harry…"  
  
Harry cut her off, "You know how I feel?!?! How can you know how I feel Hermione! You don't have to worry about whether or not you're going to have another run-in with Voldemort! You don't have to worry when someone says that there are people looking for you! So when you have all of the dark wizards out there looking for you then you can tell me how you feel Hermione!"  
  
With that Harry stormed out of the common room, unsure of where he was going. He just needed to get away, get away from everything. Harry went outside and sat by the lake, unsure of what he should do when he heard someone calling his name from behind.  
  
"Harry!" Cho said breathlessly.  
  
Harry turned around to see her running towards him.  
  
"I saw you coming down here and I thought you'd thought like some company." She said when she finally reached him.  
  
Harry patted a patch of grass next to him and Cho sat down. The two of them just sat in silence for a few moments before Cho said, "Don't worry Harry, I wont ask what happened."  
  
"Thanks Cho, you seem to be the only one that actually understands. I can only imagine how Sirius is going to act when he sees me!" Harry said with a smile. "Wait a minute; I haven't seen him for a few days."  
  
"I'm sure he's fine Harry! Why don't we go inside, it's almost lunch so you can ask Dumbledore; he's sure to know." She said reassuringly.  
  
"Yeah I suppose your right. Shall we?" Harry said helping her up.  
  
They spent their walk up to the castle hand in hand, talking about anything; except for the events of that certain night.  
  
When they got into the great hall, there were hardly any students present. Harry walked up to Dumbledore as Cho went to the Ravenclaw table to join her friends and immediately started to giggle. "Girls." Harry muttered to himself while shaking his head, but then he smiled; his first smile for awhile now.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore?"  
  
"Yes Harry?"  
  
"Have you seen Sirius? I haven't heard from him for a few days now."  
  
"Don't worry Harry; he's taking care of some special business for me." He said with a wink. "Trust me he's fine!"  
  
"Thank you Professor." Harry was about to walk away, when he turned back towards Dumbledore.  
  
"Something else on your mind Harry?"  
  
"Er…well I just wanted to apologize for….."  
  
Dumbledore put his hand up, silencing Harry. "No need to apologize Harry. You were right; it was about time that you heard some sort of explanation."  
  
Harry thanked him once again and set off towards the Gryffindor table. He looked around for Ron and Hermione, but he saw them nowhere. It's not like he actually cared anyways, they were only going to pester him some more about talking to Dumbledore. Harry figured that Hermione must've gotten Ron on her side, for he hadn't seen him yet since that morning.  
  
Ron and Hermione showed up a few moments later, but they paid no attention to Harry, they didn't even know he was there. Harry, who was done with his breakfast, walked out of the great hall and headed outside on the grounds. He was making his way to the lake once more, when he decided that he should pay a visit to Hagrid since he hasn't visited him for awhile.  
  
When Harry finally reached Hagrid's cabin, he knocked on the door and heard Fang's booming barks coming from inside.  
  
"Hullo Harry! I haven't seen yeh for awhile eh? C'mon in, just pulled some rock cakes out of theh oven!"  
  
"Er no thanks, I had a big lunch."  
  
"Yeh sure 'bout that Harry? Alrigh then, if yeh say so."  
  
"So how have you been Hagrid?"  
  
"Been doin jus fine, an how 'bout yerself?"  
  
"I've been good, I think."  
  
The rest of Harry's visit was quit enjoyable; Hagrid did an excellent job from distracting Harry from his troubles. It was soon time for Harry to head back up to the castle, it was now getting dark and Harry was trying to disguise the grumbling of his stomach, carefully trying to avoid eating any of Hagrid's rock cakes.  
  
Nothing out of the ordinary happened at dinner; Ron and Hermione were still avoiding Harry since his outburst from earlier that day. Harry soon finished his dinner and decided to head up to the tower, trying to avoid being seen by Ron and Hermione.  
  
When he got upstairs, he slipped into his pajamas and crawled into bed, where he fell asleep almost instantly.  
  
People were screaming and crying, thousands of people were dead. But worst of all, Harry was dead, lying in a pool of his own blood and now Voldemort held more power then he had years and years ago. Voldemort walked through the rubble, with his loyal servants close behind, killing anyone that was still alive. Hermione, Ron, and Cho, were one of the few survivors, though no one knew how they managed to do it. They cried at the sight of Harry, covered in blood, his scar glowing white, scratches and bruises all over his body, the sight and smell was too much to handle. The Death Eaters were horrible, throwing people into the fires that were made; just hearing the screams throughout the night was more than enough. Dumbledore, Severus, and Hagrid were among those which were killed trying to save the school, the students, and every innocent life that did not deserve to be tormented in such ways.  
  
Harry bolted straight up, drench in his own cold sweat. He looked around him, almost in a panic sort of way, and then he realized it was only a dream and his breathing slowly turned back to normal. The only thing he hoped was that this dream would not come true. He especially didn't like seeing himself or anyone else in that matter, lying dead.  
  
Harry slowly fell into an uneasy sleep, hoping that he wouldn't have anymore dreams like the one that he just had.  
  
Harry woke up the next morning with the dream from the previous night still fresh in his head. He walked down to the common in a sort of daze, still thinking about the dream. Harry walked slowly down to breakfast, wondering if he should tell Dumbledore, for most of his dreams did come true.  
  
He was still thinking about this when he heard someone calling his name. Harry looked up to see that it was Hermione, and she looked scared.  
  
"Oh Harry! I'm so glad that I found you!"  
  
"Are you okay Hermione? Where else would I be?"  
  
"With you know who. Ron found this, by the floor near your bed."  
  
Hermione shakily handed a piece of folded parchment to Harry.  
  
We have you now Potter, there is no escaping us. Next time you won't be so lucky, there won't be anyone to save you.  
  
  
  
Harry just sat there, unsure of what to say, or think.  
  
"Well if you're not going to show him, then I will!" Hermione said as she snatched the note back from Harry and walked up to the head table.  
  
Harry was watching Hermione and Dumbledore intently, trying to make out what they were saying, but he had no such luck. He did however, see the all to familiar look that Dumbledore always gave Harry, trying to assure him that everything was going to be fine. Harry noticed that Hermione seemed to be arguing with Dumbledore; trying to make him see that Harry was in danger. But once again, Dumbledore just smiled reassuringly at her and Hermione headed back towards Harry.  
  
"What'd he say?" Harry asked curiously.  
  
"All he said was that the note was probably nothing and that we shouldn't worry too much about it."  
  
"Well you do know what that means don't you? That means that he is going to look into it and that it's not your place to worry about it. I've talked to him to many times to know this by now."  
  
"Yeah I guess you're right."  
  
Harry looked up at Dumbledore who was talking to Severus, with an all too serious expression on his face.  
  
Later that evening, Harry announced that Quidditch practice would be held that same evening.  
  
They were just starting a few rounds of scoring goals, when Harry had a strange feeling in his scar. He decided to just ignore it, figuring that he was just imagining it. They also need to practice; to be ready for the Quidditch finals in June.  
  
The strange feeling in his head slowly started to turn to pain and he soon began to worry, remembering what Dumbledore said about the inner-ring of Death Eaters, having more of a bond with Voldemort and his powers.  
  
Harry's team mates soon began to notice that something was wrong with Harry; they all surrounded him incase anything happened.  
  
"Harry are you okay?" Hermione asked worriedly.  
  
"Huh? Yeah Hermione I'm fine, I-I'm just a little dizzy, I think I'll sit out for a little while." Harry said, feeling dizzier by the minute.  
  
Harry flew to the ground and landed a bit uneasy. He walked towards the bench, stumbling every now and then, before finally sitting down. Harry had no idea that his team mates kept on looking at him as if he were about to collapse at any given moment.  
  
Harry just sat there, paying attention to the steadily increasing pain when he decided that he was going to ignore it because he did need to practice. So Harry stood up and mounted his broom, and joined in on the practice; he felt that it was the only way to see what the team had to improve on.  
  
Practice carried on for about an hour and it was starting to get dark.  
  
"Okay team that's enough for today. All of you did very well today, so we'll be sure to win the finals this year!" Harry announced from his broom.  
  
Harry flew to the ground with his vision blurring. Harry felt terrible, though he didn't know why. He thought he saw something over by the stands, but before he had the chance to get a better look at it, he passed out. The last thing he heard was the terrifying screams of his team mates; he was sure that it wasn't because he passed out.  
  
  
  
When Harry woke up, he found himself to be in the hospital wing. "Typical." He thought to himself sighing. He looked around to see that the rest of his team mates were in the hospital wing as well, though they weren't there to visit him. They had their own beds, and were sleeping silently.  
  
The door opened, and Dumbledore walked in, looking highly relieved that Harry was up alive and well.  
  
"Good to see that you are doing better Harry. We almost lost you yet again."  
  
Harry was confused. "What do you mean Professor?"  
  
"Well Harry." Dumbledore started, sighing slightly. "I'm afraid that Death Eaters were here a few weeks ago. When you and your team were practicing, they made you pass out and then they stunned all of your friends, hoping to just grab you and well, make a run for it. The only reason that they failed, was that they were unaware of the vampires at the school. I'm afraid that it was not a pretty sight. Pepper and Flame did quite a number on those Death Eaters. I don't think they're going to be coming back anytime soon; unless of course they find some sort of creature that would be able to defeat Flame and Pepper."  
  
"Well what if they do? Find a creature that would be able to defeat them."  
  
Dumbledore chuckled shortly, and said "Well Harry, I think the possibility of that is very small. For there are very few creatures out there that are willing to go against the vampire. You see Harry, these aren't any ordinary vampires. They are known to be the most powerful, and dangerous creatures in the world. Not even a full grown wizard would wish to encounter one, especially Flame. Now she is one of the more dangerous ones; just be sure not to get on her bad side."  
  
"How long was I in here?"  
  
"I'd say about 3 weeks, that was a pretty strong spell, it could have killed you. Well now it's almost the second week in May."  
  
It's May already?!? Now how are we going to get ready for the finals?" Harry said more to himself than to Dumbledore.  
  
"Yes well I will be making an announcement about that in a few days, so not to worry." Dumbledore said with a wink.  
  
Harry didn't know what to think of this, so he just looked at Dumbledore with a questionable expression.  
  
"Don't worry Harry, as you do that enough already. Well I'll be off then, I have some business to attend to." He said with another wink and then walked out the door.  
  
Madam Pomfrey just came over, with another sleeping potion, which wasn't to Harry's astonishment. He drank it carelessly and fell into yet another dreamless sleep.  
  
When Harry woke up for the second time, he found that Dumbledore was already in the hospital wing.  
  
"Hello Harry. If you are doing any better then I think it will alright for you to leave."  
  
Harry nodded, indicating that he was doing much better, when he had a sudden question.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore?"  
  
"Yes Harry?"  
  
"Well if the rest of my team was only stunned, then why are they still in the hospital wing?"  
  
"Well Harry, that particular stunning spell was extremely powerful; there was a possibility of it killing them. That and the fact that being stunned like that has worn them out to a point where they are both physically and emotionally exhausted."  
  
"When will they be able to leave?" Harry asked with much concern.  
  
"Oh I say when they wake up they will be ready to leave."  
  
Harry got changed into his clothes and left the hospital wing silently.  
  
It was only a few hours before the portrait door swung open and the rest of the Quidditch team walked in. Harry could tell just by looking at them that they were extremely tired. They were pale and their eyes were dim. They walked over to Harry and sat around him in silence.  
  
They sat like that for a few moments until Hermione broke the silence.  
  
"Harry, we all thought they were going to take you to you know who!" Hermione sobbed, tears running down her face.  
  
Harry just sat there, feeling no emotion, even though he knew what he wanted to feel, but he just couldn't express his feelings. For being so young and going through so much, it really messed up his emotions; especially the last few months.  
  
They all just sat there, hoping for someone to change the subject.  
  
"Let's play Exploding Snap!" Allison said suddenly making everyone jump.  
  
Everyone agreed, since it was the best suggestion anyone came up with, actually it was the only suggestion. So they spent the next few hours playing endless games of Exploding Snap, their minds clear of all worries for the time being.  
  
  
  
However the next day they did have to attend classes and it was Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid.  
  
"Good Mornin class. Today we will be studyin vampires. Mind you they will only be the ones that are guardin the grounds. This one here is Pepper." Hagrid said indicating the vampire to his right. "This particular vampire here is very powerful. She can make you die with eh single thought. Pepper here can make your insides turn teh ice an it is extremely painful." Hagrid stopped for a moment as he glared at Malfoy. "Now this one here is Flame, she is also one of teh more powerful vampires around. She is called Flame because of what she does. Now, yeh want to make sure that yeh watch out fer this one; if yeh don't then yeh'll be in a horrible amount of pain."  
  
Harry could only imagine what kind of pain that Hagrid meant; he just hoped that he would never have to experience it.  
  
"Flame here is famous for her name. I'm sure you can all guess what she does." Hagrid chuckled at what he said, even though no one saw any amusement in it.  
  
The lesson continued on with the vampires showing the class the form they take when they transform. They were all amazed to see that, instead of turning into black bats, they turned into red ones with velvety soft wings.  
  
"Well that lesson was quite enjoyable!" Hermione said.  
  
"Yeah we didn't have to put up with any of Hagrid's beasts!" Ron said thankfully.  
  
"Now that is definitely a surprise!" Harry said trying to stifle a laugh.  
  
  
  
Later that evening, Harry and his friends walked down to the great hall talking excitedly about the Quidditch finals. They sat down at their usual places at the Gryffindor table and waited for the food to appear.  
  
As Dumbledore stood up, a wave of silence spread through the great hall. When the last of the chatter died away, Dumbledore began his speech.  
  
"Good evening students!! I have a very important announcement to make. Now you may not be happy with what I am about to say, but I trust it will; be most enjoyable. First off, the Quidditch finals are not going to be taking place this year."  
  
As soon as these words left Dumbledore's lips, a sound of outrage broke through the great hall as the students voiced their opinions.  
  
"How can he do this???" Ron said infuriated. "Doesn't he know how much we've been practicing, and how much work we went through to perfect our moves?"  
  
Harry was to furious to even say anything, he just looked up at Dumbledore with an expression to match his anger.  
  
"Now before you continue, I have something to add to that. I had every intention on the Quidditch finals going on."  
  
Dumbledore was cut off once again, as Harry found his voice and made himself heard among the other students.  
  
"Well then why are they cancelled?" Harry yelled up to the head master.  
  
"Ah yes that is what I am trying to get at Harry. Now if I may continue. It was not my idea to cancel the finals this year. The Ministry of Magic felt as if it would be wise for them not to be held. They feel with the previous incidents at the Quidditch matches, and not to mention the Death Eaters coming on the grounds and attacking teams while they were at practice, that it wouldn't be a wise idea to put our students in anymore danger. Now for the good news, the Ministry has decided to let the faculty here at Hogwarts choose an activity to let our students join in on. We have decided to allow 5th year students and above to have the opportunity of spending the weekend at a cottage in the village of Hogsmeade. For those of you interested, you just have to have your parents or guardians fill out the form and return it before the 21st of May."  
  
Harry looked at Ron in amazement. "Do you think you'll be able to go?" Harry asked happily.  
  
"I should, I don't see why not." Ron replied.  
  
The students under the 5th year were very upset; being able to stay in Hogsmeade for a whole weekend was more than anyone could hope for.  
  
Harry and his friends spent the rest of dinner, and the rest of the night for that matter, talking about the things they would do during their weekend in Hogsmeade. What was a more perfect way to end the year, then staying in Hogsmeade for a weekend? Harry only hoped that Tim would be up in time to join them.  
  
For the next few days, the school talked endlessly about the upcoming trip to Hogsmeade. A few days before the permission forms were due; Harry went for a walk down to the lake. On the way, he ran into Cho and they walked hand in hand down to the lake. They sat there for hours, talking about Hogsmeade, and Quidditch and a number of other topics. They watched the beautiful sunset in each others arms, just thankful for the time they had together. The night couldn't have been more perfect, Harry was with the girl he loved, although she did not know it, and for once, he felt safe from everything. The night would soon change in a matter of moments.  
  
  
  
There was a white mist with swirls of silver. There was soon a voice which called out to Tim. "Tim, so nice to see you, I've been expecting you!"  
  
Tim walked towards the beautiful voice, and when he saw who was talking to him, he was speechless. A beautifully shaped figure, with wavy red hair with shone with its own glow, bright green eyes and the most gorgeous smile which could light up a room, was standing before Tim.  
  
Tim just stared at her, feeling a sense of calmness wash over him. He then heard her mystical voice as she spoke to him.  
  
"Hello Tim! You mustn't stay here; there are things that must be done. You will be needed greatly in the future. You must go back; you will need to help Harry in a strenuous battle which will take place. Do you understand?"  
  
This took Tim a moment to comprehend, but when he finally understood what was being said to him, he said, "Who are you?"  
  
"Don't worry about that Tim, you will find out soon enough." She said gently.  
  
"So I have to go back because I am going to help Harry with something? What will that be? And most importantly, when will this battle be?" Tim asked curiously.  
  
"Yes, your help will be greatly needed in the future, maybe more than you will ever know, but you must go Tim, for they are waiting for you." She said as she kissed him gently on the forehead.  
  
Tim started to breathe rapidly, his breath getting shorter and shorter. He was soon being swallowed by the darkness; closing in on him on all sides. He was frantically trying to catch his breath, but he did not succeed as his body gave one final jerk and he falling without a thought in his head, without knowing that he was falling deeper into the darkness.  
  
Madam Pomfrey noticed that something was wrong with Tim, for his breathing had stopped and he was paler than before, just at that moment Dumbledore walked in and saw the look of concern on her face.  
  
"Something wrong Poppy?"  
  
"Albus, I-I think he's dead!" She managed to choke out.  
  
Dumbledore looked sharply at Tim, and saw that his chest was no longer moving up and down with every breath.  
  
"I think we should give him some time; hopefully he'll come around." Dumbledore said with sincerity.  
  
The two of them sat in complete silence by the side of Tim's bed, waiting for some sign that Tim would be alright.  
  
After about fifteen minutes of intense silence, Tim took in a sharp breath, his eyes wide open and was trembling all over. Dumbledore looked relieved; almost as if he knew that this would happen, Madam Pomfrey just sat there in shock as if she never would have expected that to happen.  
  
Tim sat up, coughing nonstop, trying to breathe in a much air as he could.  
  
"W-What happened?" He managed to sputter out.  
  
Dumbledore looked at him, the look of relief on his face, and then said, "Why don't you tell me what happened first, then I can have a better way of explaining this to you."  
  
So Tim launched into the explanation of what happened; meanwhile, Harry was doing the same thing.  
  
"Harry are you okay?" Cho said with tears streaming down her face.  
  
"I think so. What happened?"  
  
Cho sighed before she began. "Well Harry, we were talking and then for some reason you started to twitch. Your face had a blank look on it, and then you just blacked out. After a few minutes, you stopped moving and breathing all together. I was so scared Harry!! I thought that you had died! I was about to go get some help but then you just starting breathing again!" Cho couldn't go on for now the tears were once streaming freely down her face.  
  
Harry pulled her into a tight hug, and trying to calm her down.  
  
"Harry what happened?" She finally managed to say.  
  
"I think I saw my mum."  
  
"But Harry, how is that possible?"  
  
"I don't know; but she wasn't really talking to me, she was talking to Tim." Harry stopped short, "C'mon we have to go see if he's alright."  
  
"Harry, I think that you should go to the hospital wing."  
  
"Yes that is where we are going, but I'm going to see Tim, not go there because I blacked out. I am perfectly fine and I do not want to spend another day in one of those beds ever again."  
  
Harry kissed Cho's lips softly, and said in a sincere voice, "Honestly, I'm fine!"  
  
They made their way back up to the castle as quickly as possible and made their way to the hospital wing.  
  
When Harry walked in, he was relieved to see that Tim as sitting up and talking to Dumbledore.  
  
Tim looked up and smiled, "Hey Harry!"  
  
"How are you feeling?"  
  
"I want to get out of here, that's how I'm feeling!" Tim said hopefully.  
  
Harry and Cho pulled up a couple of chairs and sat by Tim's bed, only to be shooed out of the hospital wing by Madam Pomfrey.  
  
Harry and Cho made their way to the great hall seeing as it was already time for dinner to begin. They went to their house tables, and sat with their friends.  
  
"Where were you?" Ron asked.  
  
"I was with Cho, something did happen but I'll tell you later." Harry said quietly.  
  
Harry noticed the looks on Ron and Hermione's faces, and added, "It had nothing to do with Cho, but I will tell you later. Oh and by the way, Tim woke up today."  
  
"Really? How is he?" Hermione asked quickly.  
  
"Well that is part of what I have to tell you, but other than that he is fine. I don't even know all of what happened myself, so I think that Tim is going to have some explaining to do when he is released from the hospital wing."  
  
"But what happened? Can't you tell us now?" Ron asked looking hopeful.  
  
"Look Ron, I don't even know all of what happened, so just give me until we get up to the common room, and then I'll start to tell you, but I do think that I should wait until Tim is with us because he had something to do with it."  
  
Ron just nodded and went back to his plate in silence.  
  
  
  
That night the three of them sat in the common room in silence, because Harry decided that he would wait until Tim came back. It wasn't until the portrait door swung open, that they started to talk. It was in fact Tim, and he looked more then happy to see his friends waiting for him. After being hugged by Hermione, Tim cast a glance at Harry, and obviously knew that something was wrong.  
  
"Are you ok Harry?" Tim asked with his voice full of concern.  
  
"Yeah I'm fine, but I think that we have to explain what happened to Ron and Hermione."  
  
"We? What do you mean 'we'? You weren't there were you?"  
  
"Well actually I was, and I saw everything that happened, except that I couldn't do anything about it."  
  
"Can someone please tell us what is going on here?" Hermione said sounding aggravated.  
  
Harry decided that Tim should start first, so Tim launched into what had happened in the hospital wing, hearing small gasps coming from Hermione. When Tim stopped talking, Harry noticed that Ron and Hermione had the same look of shock they would usually get after listening to one of Harry's stories.  
  
"Well Harry, it's your turn." Tim said with a sigh.  
  
Harry then began his side of the story, which didn't take up that much time because Tim already said most of it. Harry's story consisted mostly about who the red hair lady was.  
  
"So you're telling me that she was your mum? But how is that possible?" Tim said sounding bewildered.  
  
"Well I don't know how it is possible, but I have seen her a few times in my dreams before, but it was never anything like this. She would normally talk to me, but today I think that I was just supposed to be there. In a way I think she knows that something is going to happen, but she just doesn't want to tell us, instead she wants us to find out for ourselves." Harry said looking at his hands.  
  
"Maybe she feels if you knew what was going to happen, then you would worry yourself over it and then it would be harder for the both of you in this specific battle." Hermione said quietly.  
  
"What are you really saying Hermione? Are you trying to say that she didn't want us to know because she thought that we would have tried to avoid whatever it is that we're supposed to do?" Harry said looking at Hermione.  
  
"No Harry, that's not what I think."  
  
They sat in complete silence, not knowing what to say to one another, so Ron decided to change the subject.  
  
"So Tim, are you going to Hogsmeade with us?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Tim asked confused.  
  
"Oh um, in a few weeks the 5th year students and above are going to spend a weekend in Hogsmeade because the Ministry cancelled the Quidditch finals; they thought it was too dangerous considering all of the things that happened with the team this year." Ron said.  
  
"Well if they cancelled the Quidditch finals because the Ministry felt it would be too dangerous, then why are we going to Hogsmeade?" Tim asked curiously.  
  
"Who knows, it's the Ministry we're talking about; they don't know half of what they do anyways. Most of them don't still don't believe that Voldemort has returned, they'd rather listen to Fudge. He probably has them all believing that I am just a traumatized child who will say anything to get attention." Harry said carelessly.  
  
"Well I'm afraid to say this, but I'm extremely tired. Who would have thought that after spending months in the hospital wing that I would still be tired." Tim said shrugging his shoulders.  
  
One by one, they all headed up to their dorms for a peaceful nights sleep, anxiously awaiting the trip to Hogsmeade which was coming in a couple of weeks.  
  
In the weeks leading up to the trip, the school continued to talk endlessly about the trip and what they were planning on doing. The teachers were getting annoyed with the students, for as much as they talked before, was now doubled.  
  
They soon found out that they would be leaving on the first Friday of June, right after lessons, so they were to be packed the night before seeing as they wouldn't have enough time before they would leave. Tim was given a few days to get his permission form signed, so he was able to go to Hogsmeade with his friends.  
  
It was finally Thursday, the day before the 5th years and above would be leaving to spend a wonderful, action-packed weekend in Hogsmeade. It was complete chaos. Students running around trying to get everything that they needed, trying to find things which they lost; you would have thought that they were packing to leave for a month. Clothes were scattered all over the floor, and some people had dumped their whole trunk out looking for things they might need.  
  
Harry was digging feverishly through his trunk, looking for the thing which he wanted to bring the most; his invisibility cloak.  
  
Harry motioned Ron over, and asked him quietly, "Have you seen my invisibility cloak?"  
  
"No, when did you last use it?"  
  
Harry's eyes got wide, he remembered the last time he used it. "Malfoy." He said in disgust.  
  
"Do you think he has it?" Ron asked uneasily.  
  
"Yeah I do. I think he might have stolen it when I was listening on the conversation going on between Draco and his father."  
  
"So then what are you going to do to get it back?"  
  
"Well there's nothing we can do now, so I'm just going to have to get it back this weekend. I'm sure that he'll bring it with him; I'll just have to find a way to get it from him without his cronies getting in the way." Harry said hopefully.  
  
"I'll help you get it back Harry."  
  
"Thanks. Well I guess I mine as well continue packing."  
  
So the two of them went back to what they were doing, it wasn't long before people were crawling into their beds, anxiously waiting the next day.  
  
  
  
"Finally, the day is over!! I never knew that a day could go by so slow!" Ron said with a smile.  
  
Harry just nodded as they ran up to the common room to get any last minute belongings and drop off their books. They didn't have to worry about bringing anything with them since what they packed the previous night was going to Hogsmeade separately.  
  
  
  
When they arrived at the cottage, they were amazed by its beauty and the surroundings. The cottage was made of wood, and it had a magnificent wrap around porch. The cottage was very large and there were some flowers which were hanging in pots here and there. There was a large lake behind the cottage which was so clear that you could see the bottom. On the left side of the cottage, was a forest with an assortment of wildflowers.  
  
After staring in awe for a few moments, the large group was led inside. There were small groups of armchairs which were located around a small table. When Harry was about to head up the stairs, Professor McGonagall was calling for their attention.  
  
"Just a few announcements before you go and claim your rooms. First off, Head Master Dumbledore, will not be here as he has to stay up at the school. Now for the second thing, boys and girls will not be sharing rooms. You will not go into one another's rooms after 11 pm. If you'd like you can come down here and talk, but you must be on your best behavior, anyone who disobeys the rules will be immediately sent back to Hogwarts. Now are there any questions?"  
  
No one had any questions, so they were free to go and explore the cottage. The first ting that Harry, Ron and Tim did was to go and claim a room. They decided that since nothing was said about it, that they would get a room next to the girls. Cho decided that she would room with Hermione and Ginny, since the rest of her friends were rooming together.  
  
After they found a room, which the girls insisted on having one overlooking the lake, they went down to the hall where dinner would be served. When the six of them; being Harry, Ron, Tim, Hemione, Cho, and Ginny; walked through the large double doors leading to the dining area, they were amazed by it's size and beauty.  
  
The hall seemed, if possible, larger than that of Hogwarts. There were round tables which could seat about 8 people, scattered around the floor. The ceilings were high, and there were elegant crystal chandeliers hanging here and there casting a dim light throughout the hall. On each table, there were small centerpieces of candles, casting a dancing light on the surrounding faces. The aroma was enough to make your mouth water.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Tim were led to a table in the back by the three girls. They sat down, and simply enjoyed looking around at all the paintings and sculptures which were located throughout the hall. They noticed that they were by a door, which led to the garden; Hermione decided that it would be a good idea to check it out after dinner.  
  
Soon enough witches and wizards came out from the kitchens with carts of food, delivering it to all the tables. When a friendly looking wizard, came around to their table, he said in a professional voice, "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. We have a variety of dishes which you may choose from, and after that, desert will be served. I will leave the cart here, and if you need anything my name is Anthony."  
  
Before he left, he gave a slight bow, but was stopped by Hermione who seemed to have a question.  
  
"Excuse me, Anthony?"  
  
"I see you have a question for me, what may I help you with darling?"  
  
Hermione seemed to blush by the way he said that, but she managed to continue, "Why do you deliver the food?"  
  
"Ah yes, we get asked that question a lot. We do have house elves, but they are the ones that out together this scrumptious meal. A few years ago, there was a little accident where one of the elves got a little excited and then he started to talk about getting paid. I think his name was Dobby. Well after that little incident, house elves were banned serving our customers. Is that all I may help you with?"  
  
"No, uh thank you." Hermione said smiling.  
  
Hermione, Cho, and Ginny started to giggle as they whispered to each other. And of course it was about Anthony. They were discussing about him constantly, and all through dinner, whenever he would come by and assist them to their dinning needs, they would have to fight back their giggles.  
  
Anthony did look a little young to be working at such a magnificent cottage, but it didn't seem as though Hermione, Ginny, or Cho minded that one bit. Anthony had dark blonde hair, which was combed back, revealing his charming blue eyes which sparkled in the candlelight. It was no wonder the girls giggled whenever he came around, just by the way he talked to the girls, it was obvious that he could charm anyone he pleased.  
  
After dinner, they went on their walk through the gardens. There were fountains, and rose bushes, and many other things. The gardens were lit by candles which followed the walkways. Harry and Cho started to drift away from the rest of their friends, hand in hand and talking quietly to each other. They were walking for a few minutes when they stopped by a group of shrubs, Harry and Cho were facing each other, still holding hands.  
  
"Harry, I've never felt this way about anyone." Cho said looking into Harry's eyes.  
  
"Not even…"  
  
But Harry was cut off when Cho said, "No Harry, not even Cedric. I-I love you Harry!"  
  
Harry looked deep into her eyes, "I love you too." Harry kissed her passionately until they heard someone coming their way; it was the other four.  
  
"Well here you two are, we've been looking for you. We were wondering if you wanted to join us. We were going to walk around Hogsmeade for a little while." Ron said with his arm around Hermione.  
  
Harry looked at all their faces, and then he saw that Ginny looked hurt; he had forgotten the way she felt for him. Harry felt a little guilty, but he pushed it aside, and said "Sure, it could be fun."  
  
So they set of towards the main road, and walked to the center of Hogsmeade. They never realized how beautiful it was at night, mainly because they never were allowed to stay there that late.  
  
After they were walking for half an hour, they thought that they should be heading back, since it was getting closer towards their curfew.  
  
After Harry, Ron, and Tim were all changed into their pajamas, Ron took Harry aside and asked, "So how are we going to get the cloak back?"  
  
"Well do you think maybe Tim would be able to help us?" Harry asked quietly looking at Tim.  
  
"I don't see why not; but that would mean telling him about it."  
  
"I think that we can trust him, I mean he hates Malfoy as much as we do." Harry said truthfully.  
  
"Yeah I guess you're right, but it's your choice so if you want to tell him then go ahead."  
  
Tim, who was already trying to see what they were talking about, looked up and asked, "So, what was that all about?"  
  
"Well Tim, I need your help. You see at the end of March, I was taken to Voldemort." Harry took no notice to what he had just said, and continued, "That night I was walking around the castle, and well I have an invisibility cloak so I used that. Well I ran into Draco and his dad, for some reason they knew that someone was in the hall and they caught me. In the process of that, my cloak fell off and I think that Draco may have grabbed it. When I was packing for this weekend, I noticed that it was missing. So, will you like to help me get it back?"  
  
Tim seemed to consider this, and then he said, "Of course I'll help! So, what's that plan?"  
  
They sat for the next hour discussing plans for which they would use to get Harry's cloak back. When their eyes began to droop, they decided to put their plan into action the next day, they slid beneath the covers of their comfortable beds and fell into a good nights sleep.  
  
When the morning came, they were all eager to get the plan started. They got dressed and went down to the hall where they had dinner the previous night. But on the way they heard Draco talking with his friends. Harry motioned for Ron and Tim to be quiet, so they could hear what was being said; with any luck it would be about Harry's invisibility cloak.  
  
To their surprise, they heard the end of the conversation.  
  
"Yes I have the cloak; I have it hidden in our room in the bedside table. Now let's go down to breakfast before anyone comes."  
  
Ron looked at Harry and said, "So he does have your cloak, and he brought it with him. Now we just have to put our plan into action and then Harry, you'll have your cloak back!"  
  
"Right, so the two of you go to the hall. If you see him leaving, then stall him. I'm just glad that we saw where he was rooming last night."  
  
And with that Harry set off in the direction of Draco's room, carefully avoiding any Slytherins along the way.  
  
When he finally reached the room, he looked around him to make sure that he wouldn't be seen, and he slipped through the door. Harry walked over to the first table and started going through the drawers; nothing was there to his interest. The same was with the second and third bedside tables; his invisibility cloak was still missing.  
  
Harry began looking under mattresses, and in the dressers; he just had to find that cloak and he knew that he didn't have much time. Harry was just moving on to the second dresser when he heard someone turning the doorknob. Harry quickly dodged under one of the beds and hoped that whoever entered the room would soon be leaving. He had a feeling that it was Draco, how he did not know, but he was right for he heard someone open and close one of the drawers of a bedside table. Harry knew that Draco must have put the cloak in there.  
  
Harry watched carefully as the feet left the room and the door closed behind him. Harry crawled out from under the bed and went to the bedside table where Draco was just at. He opened the drawer, and sure enough the silvery cloak was laying there. He scooped it up in his hands and draped it around him before leaving the room.  
  
As soon as Harry got away from Draco's room, he looked around him, and then took the cloak off. He ran the rest of the way to his room and stuffed into one of his bags. Harry then set off in the direction of the hall where Ron and Tim were sure to be waiting; he still had the bag with him.  
  
"Hey Harry, we weren't sure where he went! We got in here and we looked for Malfoy, but we only saw his friends." Ron said quietly.  
  
Harry went on to explain what had happened; about how he looked in the drawers and nothing was there, and how Draco came in.  
  
When he finally finished tell Ron and Tim what had happened, Tim said, "Well at least you got it back, and that you didn't get caught."  
  
Harry was about to say something when he saw that Hermione, Ginny, and Cho had just entered the hall.  
  
"H-Hey g-guys!" Hermiond said failing to stifle a yawn.  
  
"Morning!" Harry said cheerfully.  
  
Hermione eyed him curiously, but sat down and enjoyed her breakfast instead of questioning him.  
  
"So, what should we do today?" Ginny asked after taking a bite out of her toast.  
  
"Well, we can always go to Hogsmeade again. Since the shops are open I need to re-fill my candy stock; I don't trust anything that Fred or George give me." Ron said.  
  
"Who would?" Harry laughed.  
  
"You have a point there Harry!" Ron said starting to laugh.  
  
"Are we going to Hogsmeade then?" Tim asked looking at the girls.  
  
The three of them nodded, and after their breakfast they made their way to the center of Hogsmeade where it was crowded with people.  
  
It was a hot summer's day, but there was just the right amount of breeze to keep you cool. The scent of summer was definitely in the air.  
  
The six friends walked for hours throughout the village, going in and out of the shops. After awhile the gentle breeze died out, and they became aware of the extreme heat, so they decided to go to the Three Broomsticks for something to drink.  
  
"What can I get you today?" The waitress said; Ron immediately noticed that it was not Madam Rosmerta and he did seem a bit disappointed.  
  
"Six butterbeers please." Ron said.  
  
"Tell you what, it's to hot out for you to be drinking that; yes I must agree that it is very delicious, but how about you take something that will cool you off?"  
  
Ron looked around at his friends, and they all seemed to agree.  
  
"Ok so how about, six strawberry smoothies?"  
  
The six of them nodded in agreement and they went to their table towards the back. The waitress came about five minutes later with a tray of six strawberry smoothies. They drank them happily and talked endlessly about Quidditch and many other things. It wasn't before long that the sun was beginning to set, casting an orange glow over the village of Hogsmeade.  
  
"How about we start heading back? Dinner should be starting soon." Hermione said when she saw the time.  
  
The rest agreed and they set back towards the cottage. As they walked, Harry couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Maybe it was just the result of being in the hot sun all day, but he couldn't help but feel that something just wasn't right.  
  
"Harry, are you okay?" Cho asked concerned.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine." Harry replied simply, though his mind was full of thoughts.  
  
Cho looked at him a moment longer, but then she just went back to her conversation with Ginny. Harry tried to push that feeling out of his head, but for some reason he couldn't stop thinking about how he felt; as if he knew that something was going to happen.  
  
In no time at all, they reached the cottage and went quickly up to their rooms to drop off their bags. The six of them headed down to the hall, and when they took their seats, they noticed that Draco wasn't exactly happy. Harry knew that it was because of the cloak, and so did everyone else, well besides the girls.  
  
Seeing Malfoy angry like that seemed to help clear Harry's thoughts that were in his head that night.  
  
Harry was enjoying his time, laughing and talking with his friends when he soon began to feel that all too familiar stinging in his scar. He tried to hide the pain, but it steadily increased; now his friends were all looking at him with worry, knowing that something must be wrong.  
  
"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked although she already knew what was wrong.  
  
Just as Hermione finished saying this, the doors to the hall flew open, and the wizard, Anthony ran up to Professor McGonagall with a look of anger and worry on his face.  
  
Harry and his friends looked up at the two of them, trying to see what was being said. They didn't hear anything, but they did see that Professor McGonagall went a ghostly shade of white.  
  
She stood up and cleared her throat for everyone's attention; the room fell silent when they saw the look on her face. "Everyone is to stay in the hall; you are not to leave unless told otherwise. If you disobey that one rule then you will be expelled immediately from the school."  
  
After she finished her announcement the hall was silent for a few minutes, trying to absorb what she had just said, before it erupted in the sound of chatter which filled the hall.  
  
"What do you think happened?" Ginny asked, although she already knew that answer.  
  
"I'll tell you what happened; Voldemort is here, I can feel him." Harry said, already trying to think of what he should do.  
  
"Harry, listen to what Professor McGonagall said, don't go running off trying to save people!" Hermione said sternly.  
  
"People are going to die tonight, and it's mostly because of me that they are going to die. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?"  
  
Just then, Kenny and the rest of his American friends came over by Harry.  
  
"We have to do something." Heather said suddenly.  
  
"Yeah, but we don't even know what's out there." Harry said apprehensively.  
  
"Well, if we were told to stay in here unless we were told to otherwise, then it's probably Voldemort and his Death Eaters." Heather said looking at Harry.  
  
Harry was somewhat shocked that Heather had said the word 'Voldemort', but that was soon gone from his mind realizing that it was said by her friends before.  
  
"So, then what's the plan?" Harry asked uneasily.  
  
Just as Harry finished his sentence, there was a sudden wave of heat and then some screams; the cottage was on fire and it was spreading rapidly. Harry checked his pockets to make sure he still had his prized possessions; the invisibility cloak and his wand; he left the map at the school.  
  
The heat was intensifying and the students in the hall were screaming; even Draco looked somewhat scared.  
  
Everyone was unsure of what they should do, they wouldn't be able to stay in the hall or they would be caught in the flames. As soon as the heat in the hall was beginning to become unbearable, it suddenly turned extremely cold; that only meant one thing, the Dementors had arrived.  
  
Harry felt the cold wash over him, and he began to hear his mother scream for his safety. He struggled to find a happy memory, but the screams were growing louder and louder. Harry looked up, and he saw Cho standing there; that was his happy memory.  
  
He focused on Cho, and then he felt the coldness and screams wearing away. He saw some of the dememtors moving closer, and he began to shoot Patronus after Patronus. He grew tired quickly, but he was one of the only one's in the room which could produce a proper patronus. He then saw that Kenny and his friends began to help Harry fight off the dementors.  
  
What they didn't realize was that the fire was still burning the cottage, a majority of the students left the hall through the windows and doors. Harry suddenly became aware of the smell, the heat, and the thick black smoke which was now surrounding them.  
  
They couldn't handle it anymore, the smoke closing in on them, suffocating them. They fought of the nearest dementors and then ran out of the hall, into the garden, only to see that there were Death Eaters fighting the teachers and villagers of Hogsmeade. They could already see that lives had been lost, but how many still remained a mystery to them. They thought that it would be best to get away from the cottage, see how much damage was done to the center of Hogsmeade. They ran for nearly fifteen minutes through the forest, stumbling over fallen branches, but getting up again, trying to get away from the stench of burning wood, and not to mention other things.  
  
When they finally stopped running, it was not because of tiredness, but the scene. Hogsmeade was in ruins, people were lying dead all over the rubble, and yet there were still people fighting against the Death Eaters.  
  
Suddenly Harry heard something flying from above; he looked up and saw two bats soaring thru the dark sky. Harry knew that they were Pepper and Flame. They flew towards the ground, and transformed into their human shape killing people along the way.  
  
Flame stopped unexpectedly and stared at one of the Death Eaters; she knew who he was, and one thing was for certain, she didn't like him very much. She slowly walked over to the masked Death Eater, and picked him up by the collar, she threw him effortlessly into a nearby tree. He wasn't knocked unconscious, but his mask was knocked off; it was Lucius Malfoy.  
  
"Well now that's not much of a surprise is it?" Ron asked the group.  
  
They watched in horror as Malfoy was being thrown around like a rag doll; even though they didn't like him, it was still horrible to watch. At one point, he was screaming in agony as he was trying to put out the flames on his robes which was rapidly spreading up his body. This continued on for a few moments longer, when he was then tied in rope. He had blood streaming down his face from a gash across his forehead, and had scrapes all along his arms. The only thing that surprised Harry was why Flame hadn't killed him.  
  
Flame seemed to sense that Harry was thinking about her, because she walked slowly over to him and said, "Are you alright?"  
  
Harry shook his head yes, and then asked, "Why didn't you just kill him?" He said as he jerked his thumb towards Malfoy.  
  
She got a hard expression on her face, and then she laughed for a moment, and said, "I could have killed him, there was actually a moment where I was going to. But then I thought, if I killed him, then that would mean that he wouldn't suffer anymore. There will be plenty of times in the future Harry, where he will wish I had killed him tonight." She said with a sly grin spreading across her face.  
  
Harry couldn't help but laugh, despite everything that had happened that night, it was glad to hear that the Malfoy's would get theirs; they would suffer like all the rest one of these days.  
  
Harry was shook from his thoughts when he heard a scream from Hermione. He looked in her direction. But he soon saw that she was looking at something from behind Harry. He turned slowly, afraid of what he might see, but when he looked to see what was behind him, he saw nothing.  
  
"What did you scream for Hermione? There's nothing there!" Harry said slightly worried.  
  
"Harry I saw someone; I don't know who it was but someone was there." Hermione said, looking very pale.  
  
Harry looked at Hemrione for a few moments, with a look of concern.  
  
"So, what do we do now? Where do we go?" Tim asked looking around at the destruction.  
  
"Well, as there is no village, or cottage left, I suggest that we head back towards where the cottage was; see how things are going." Flame said walking back towards Malfoy as she added, "I think we should take him with us, just in case." She added with a wink.  
  
So the large group made its way back towards where the remains of the cottage would be. The survivors from the center of the village were now tagging along, hoping to be of some assistance. They walked silently; time seemed to stand still, though they were still going forward. Harry looked around at his surroundings, everything was so different. Instead of seeing the little shops, closed for the night, piles of rubble took its place. There were fires smoldering here and there, only parts of certain buildings remained standing. Hogsmeade as they knew, was now gone forever, it would never be the same, even after the repairs. Hogsmeade was gone, and Voldemort had returned once again, only to bring yet again death and destruction.  
  
  
  
After what seemed like hours, the lake by which the cottage used to stand came into view. It looked as though there was fierce fighting, as bodies were lying here and there, some injured many dead. Harry was looking at all the damage which was done when he heard a swish of a cloak behind him. Harry turned slowly to see what who was behind them. When he turned, he saw the familiar masks, and the same cloaks of all the Death Eaters, he saw the same dark mark, on his right forearm before the man pulled his hand back into the sleeve of his cloak.  
  
It all seemed to happen in a split second, though at the same time, it took a lifetime. The Death Eater raised his wand, and cried, "AVADA KEDAVRA!!!"  
  
The curse hit Harry full force; he felt the pain shoot up his body like electricity. He wished that he would just die so he wouldn't have to put up with the pain. He fell on the ground after what felt like hours; he looked around at all of his friends and saw that they were standing in horror. Hermione fell on the ground next to him, wishing that it wasn't true, he saw Flame attack the Death Eater, and then all went black.  
  
Harry awoke to the sound of birds chirping, and people talking right outside his door. It took a few moments for what was being said to make any sense, but slowly he began to hear more clearly.  
  
"You honestly think that it is the right time to tell him? Harry managed to hear.  
  
"Yes Sirius I do. We don't know what is going to happen after Hogsmeade. It is best that he knows, and I think the sooner we tell him the better." Harry recognized this as Dumbledore's voice.  
  
Sirius seemed to disagree with whatever Dumbledore wanted to tell Harry, but he eventually gave in.  
  
As the door to the hospital wing turned, Harry closed his eyes and acted as if he were sleeping.  
  
"Well it looks as if this is going to wait, as he is still sleeping." Sirius said with a sound of relief in his voice.  
  
Harry started to move, to show that he was awake; he wanted to know what Dumbledore wanted to tell him. As he sat up slowly, he reached around for his glasses, and everything from that night in Hogsmeade came flooding back to him. He felt the pain shoot up his spine, and he slowly went back to putting his head on the pillow.  
  
"How are you feeling Harry?" Sirius asked with his voice full of concern for his godson.  
  
Harry simply sighed and shrugged his shoulders, feeling the pain shooting thru his body, he stopped.  
  
"Well Harry, we are all very glad to see that you are up and well; for the most part." Dumbledore said with a wink. "Now, I know that you have many questions, mainly about how you survived; am I right?"  
  
Harry nodded, hoping that Dumbledore would get on with it and just tell him everything.  
  
"So, are you going to tell me?" Harry asked pressing on.  
  
"If you feel up to it; it will take awhile to explain and it may be a bit much for you to handle at this moment. We can either do this now, or you can take a sleeping potion and I will explain everything as soon as you wake up. Actually, now that I think about it, it may be better to wait, so we can discuss this in private." Dumbledore said looking around the hospital wing.  
  
Harry looked around also, and he saw that every bed was occupied by a student or teacher; he didn't know how that went unnoticed.  
  
Harry sighed, knew that there was no point to arguing, so he simply nodded once more, relieved to feel that some of the pain was subsiding. Madam Pomfrey came over, and immediately began fussing over Harry; it wasn't long before Harry was swallowing the sleeping potion, and falling into a dreamless sleep.  
  
Harry woke up the next day to find the room still occupied by a number of patients; some of them were new, some of them were still the same ones from the previous night. As Harry sat up, he realized that most of the pain was gone; he reached for his glasses and at that exact moment the door to the hospital wing opened, and Dumbledore walked in.  
  
"Just in time I see!" Dumbledore said cheerfully.  
  
Harry smiled weakly, wondering how many people had lost their lives that night.  
  
Harry was brought from his thoughts when Dumbledore said, "After Madam Pomfrey checks you over I would like you to come up to my office, there are some things which we need to discuss."  
  
Harry nodded, and sighed inwardly, remembering how much he was fussed over; especially by Madam Pomfrey.  
  
A short while later, Harry was making his way to Dumbledore's office. He knocked lightly on the door, and then made his way inside. Dumbledore motioned for Harry to sit down, and then he began.  
  
"You know Harry; we weren't surprised that you survived the curse." Dumbledore said calmly.  
  
"Why is that Professor? Did you know that I would survive it?" Harry said confused.  
  
"Well actually Harry, I did not know that you would survive, but like I said, we weren't surprised that you did."  
  
"I'm sorry Professor, but what do you mean by that?" Harry asked hoping to get a straight answer.  
  
"I found a very old document while you were in Hogsmeade."  
  
Just hearing the name of that place made Harry's stomach turn; all those people that died. Harry tried to forget about those thoughts when Dumbledore began to speak again; he obviously knew what Harry was thinking.  
  
"I started to read it when I was notified of the attacks; so evidently I was unable to read the whole thing. Now before you say anything, I will let you read it, so don't worry. What I would like you to do is tell me what happened that night; when you left the cottage."  
  
Harry sighed deeply before going into the story of what happened, he had to admit to himself that he was getting used to going thru past events, he didn't like all that much. When he finally finished, he looked up from his hands, where he had been looking the whole time, and looked into the faces of Dumbledore and Sirius. Dumbledore wore an expression which was hard to read, and Sirius looked genuinely worried for his godson.  
  
When Harry looked back at Dumbledore, he had a piece of old parchment. Harry took this from Dumbledore and read it to himself.  
  
There will be a boy, who will one day rise to the level of the Dark Lord. He will indeed face many challenges along the way, but he shall receive guidance from the Great Godric Gryffindor. Only those related to Godric himself, shall be helped along the way with whatever problems they may face. The heir of Gryffindor will die, but only to leave a path not yet finished for yet another heir. This heir, just like the rest will face many dangers and losses, but only to come back strong each time. This heir will come to a point where he will have to make a decision; he can either save himself, or save the world with this one decision. He shall receive no help in the process of this decision and no one will persuade his choices. Both of these choices have many consequences, which will have to be thought over carefully in order for the right decision to be made. This will all end with a fierce battle in which only one can survive.  
  
  
  
Harry sat for a moment before saying anything. He looked up into Dumbledore's face, and saw a look of concern; not for what might happen, but for Harry.  
  
"Do you understand what this means Harry?" Sirius said slowly.  
  
Harry nodded and said, "It means that I will have to make a decision of whether I want to save the world or myself. And that I will have to fight Voldemort in which only one of us will live."  
  
Sirius had a pained look on his face; this was too much for a 16 year old boy to go through.  
  
"Yes Harry, that is correct." Dumbledore said for Sirius.  
  
"But what are the consequences of the choices?"  
  
"Well that I do not know, you will find out when the time is right. I know that you may not want to hear this Harry, but the fate of the world is on your shoulders. It is a lot to be responsible for, but I think that you can do it Harry. You have been through plenty before, so it has only made you stronger, you make it thru all that is thrown at you Harry, and that is why I believe you can do this." Dumbledore said motioning towards the document.  
  
Harry felt a heavy weight on his shoulders; he looked to see that Sirius was now standing behind him, with his hands on his shoulders. Harry knew that it wasn't all Sirius; it was the pressure that he was under.  
  
"So Harry, if you have no questions, I take it that you would like to see how your friends are doing? You may go back to your common room." Dumbledore said with that all too familiar reassuring smile.  
  
Harry walked slowly back to the Gryffindor tower, with his head full of troubling thoughts. After a few minutes he finally reached the painting of the fat lady, and he said the password. As soon as Harry walked thru the portrait hole, he was greeted by Hermione's cries. She ran up to him and gave him a hug, which nearly strangled him.  
  
"Harry are you okay?" She said worriedly.  
  
"Well I'm standing here aren't I? Yes I am okay; I just came from Dumbledore's office."  
  
"How did you survive?" Ginny said quietly, making her way thru Ron and Hermione.  
  
"Well, it is a long story, but I knew that you were going to ask me so I mine as well tell it." Harry said sighing and heading for an unoccupied corner.  
  
They all sat together, and Harry began to tell them of what had happened, and what Dumbledore had said. By the time he had finished, everyone looked pale and scared.  
  
"So what are you going to do?" Allison asked quietly.  
  
"Well I don't really know, I guess I will just have to wait until it happens to find out."  
  
There was a moment of silence, while everyone was going over what Harry had just told them.  
  
"Harry?" Hermione spoke up. "You said that the Gryffindor heir would die, but only to leave an unfinished path for the next heir; what does that mean?" She said with a looking up at Harry.  
  
Harry was silent for a moment, trying to see what that could have meant. "Well, if I'm the heir of Gryffindor, then my dad must have been also; and well he did die so maybe it started off about him and I'm the one that is going to fight Voldemort." Harry took no notice to the way several of the Gryffindors flinched at the name.  
  
"So now what?" Ron asked.  
  
"I don't know Ron, I just don't know." Harry said with a sense of lost hope.  
  
They talked for a while longer, about anything that would get their minds off of the recent events. Kenny suddenly said, "Oh just to let you know, we won't be here next year."  
  
"Why not?" Harry said a little louder than he intended.  
  
"Well, they found another American school which we can all attend; we won't be there the whole year since our school is almost repaired."  
  
Harry didn't know what to say, so he just kept on staring out the window, where he had been looking for the past half an hour for no particular reason.  
  
It was soon time to head down to the great hall for dinner, so the large group made their way silently down the staircases. When they had entered the hall, it fell silent, all eyes were on Harry. "How had he survived?" Many of them were asking their neighbor.  
  
"I have to learn to get used to this." Harry sighed towards Ron."  
  
Ron looked at Harry and then smiled, to show that they would get thru everything.  
  
When they were getting ready to eat dinner, Dumbledore stood up, and the hall fell silent.  
  
"Good Evening students, I have a few announcements to make. As you all of you may know, Hogsmeade was attacked, but that is not the reason for me to bring you from your meal. The end of year exams are just around the corner, and yes you will be taking them; you have learned most of the material in the beginning of the year, so there is nothing to worry about. Now you may all go back to your conversations." Dumbledore sat down, he didn't have that twinkle in his eye, he looked tired and worn out.  
  
People were starting to argue about this statement, most of them didn't think it was fair since of the attack of Hogsmeade. Harry, on the other hand, didn't say anything about this; he had yet another question for Dumbledore.  
  
At the end of dinner, Harry went up to see Professor Dumbledore.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore?"  
  
"Yes Harry?"  
  
"I have a question, how did I survive?"  
  
"Harry, I thought you understood what you read! Well, you are destined to fight Voldemort, so technically neither he, nor his Death Eaters can kill you until the time is right. The can curse you continuously and you will not die."  
  
"So does that mean I am immortal?"  
  
"No, Harry, you are very much mortal. Let's just say that this is like a spell which will protect you, I don't remember the name of it though. The important thing is that you should always be on the look out. Even if you are being protected, you never know when it will wear off and it will be time to fight Voldemort. Now if you don't have anymore questions, I think your friends are waiting for you." Dumbledore said with a slight wink.  
  
Harry thanked the Professor, and headed back towards his friends.  
  
Before they even asked what he went up there for, he told them. Their reactions were similar to when Harry first told them earlier that day about his meeting with Dumbledore.  
  
"So, does that mean you're immortal for the moment, and then you're just going to become mortal?" Ron asked in confusion.  
  
"No, he said that I am not immortal, but it's more like a protection spell." Harry said.  
  
"So, this document, did Dumbledore say who it was written by?" Hermione asked curiously.  
  
"No he didn't. Why?"  
  
"Oh I'm just wondering, I have to go check something out." Hermione said suddenly and then running out of the great hall.  
  
"Now where is she off too?" Ron asked.  
  
"The library; where else?" Harry said carelessly.  
  
Ron shrugged and they made their way to the tower to wait for Hermione.  
  
They waited up there for a few hours before Hermione came thru the portrait hole with a smile on her face which indicated she found what she was looking for.  
  
"Have a fun time at the library?" Ron asked.  
  
Hermione just looked at him and then began to tell the two of them what she had found.  
  
"When you were telling me about that document, I knew that it just couldn't be anything normal. So today when you told me about the protection spell, I knew that it wasn't just an ordinary piece of parchment."  
  
Hermione was cut off when Ron said, "Well Hermione we all know that wasn't anything normal! I mean look what it said!"  
  
Hermione simply shot him a look and continued talking to them.  
  
"Like I was saying, it's not an ordinary piece of parchment. I decided to do some research on it just to make sure, but I finally found out that it's a prophecy."  
  
"And what is that exactly?" Harry asked.  
  
"It sort of tells the future; it is usually written down but there are probably other ways of reading it." Hermione said quickly; she knew what their reaction would be.  
  
And sure enough, Hermione was right. Ron and Harry exchanged looks of astonishment and then turned to Hermione.  
  
"I thought you didn't believe in that?" Ron asked incredulously.  
  
"Well…it's different." Hermione said turning away.  
  
"How is it different?" Ron asked, wanting an answer to how Hermione believed in it.  
  
"It just is okay?" Hermione said heatedly and then stomped off to the girls' dormitory.  
  
"Well, that went well." Ron said thinking about why Hermione wouldn't tell them everything.  
  
"You know she's keeping something from us right?" Harry asked even though he already knew the answer.  
  
"Of course; she'll come around eventually."  
  
The two of them walked up to their dormitory and fell asleep rather quickly.  
  
In no time at all the end of year exams were done and they had done reasonably well, considering the events at Hogsmeade.  
  
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny walked down to the grounds and sat under a large tree, shielding them from the hot summer sun.  
  
Harry reached into his pocket, his hand brushed against a piece of parchment, the Marauders Map to be exact. He didn't know why he had brought it with him, but he had the strangest feeling to do so.  
  
The four of them spent hours just sitting there talking and making plans for their summer holiday. They were having a wonderful time, just laughing and joking. When the sun started to set, and they began to notice their hunger, it was decided to head back up to the castle for dinner.  
  
Harry, who was going to sit there for a few moments, told the rest that he would catch up. He sat there, deep in thought, going through what had happened throughout the year.  
  
After a few minutes, something made Harry look at his map, when he looked, he saw that nothing was there; he still had that feeling though. He soon decided to catch up with his friends, so he started his way up to the castle.  
  
He took a slow walk, but then for some reason he started to speed up. Harry was starting to panic, but he did not know why. He was almost to the castle, when he tripped and fell hard to the ground. He looked to see what had caused him to fall, and it was a somewhat large branch from one of the nearby trees. Harry picked it up and was about to throw it, when he felt the familiar tug behind his naval. 


End file.
